Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoë Joiner.
Zoë, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
First off, I’m addicted to seashells! Besides that, my husband and I are obsessed with our dog, live music, and craft beer.
Originally from Minneapolis, my family and I lived and travelled on a 40′ sailboat from Minnesota to Trinidad to FL when I was in 8th grade. It was Christmas of that year spent in Antigua when I had the life-changing epiphany that winter is a choice! Hence my decision to move south to escape the brutal winters as soon as I graduated from high school. Those six months homeschooling in the Caribbean also inspired my love of collecting seashells.
After graduating college in Tallahassee and spending the following 7 years in Houston (where I made the most of an uninspiring office job) my husband and I were eager to move back to his home state and our current, more tropical digs in Florida. I told myself I would never take this paradise for granted, and we started going to the beach once a week where it soon became a form of (free!) therapy to help me cope with the stress of a demanding bartending job. We eventually found the beach with the best shells and my collection took off.
As soon as my shell jars started to overflow, I realized I should be putting them to use somehow and began by making collages, glued and framed within shadow boxes. I kept making them and eventually had so many I decided to open my Etsy shop in 2017.
Jewelry-making followed after YouTube videos taught me how to drill holes in fragile seashells, as well as an expanded method of treating shells to help bring out their color (also thanks to YouTube).
Feedback on my Instagram posts inspired my joining the online artist platform Society6, where my artfully arranged images of shells can be purchased printed onto tote bags, pillows, phone cases and more.
During the spring of 2018 I decided to start putting my art out there in the busy local market scene and began acquiring the necessary equipment (tent, tables, etc.) and assembling my displays. After a lot of learning, trial and error, a year later I’m truly enjoying the interaction with people at markets who appreciate shells. Selling my work has been extremely satisfying.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I make mixed-media art, including jewelry, ornaments, and framed home decor out of my vast collection of shells. I also love creating the colorful collage images sold on Society6 and use each image as a way of documenting my shelling finds.
I find inspiration for my art from anything washed up that’s particularly colorful, small, large, old, weathered, perfect, broken, or just plain cool looking. Seashells are a curiosity to me: they bring me joy and a way to connect with my childhood enthusiasm. I like to think that my art highlights their intricacies and delicate forms and is a testament to the wonders and beauty of nature.
My favorite shells to work with are worm-shells, which are tubular shells that come in all sorts of strange, twisted shapes. My current obsession has been fashioning them into letters and words, and making them into custom names or other words displayed in shadow boxes.
I also have a love-hate relationship with jingle shells, which are beautiful but delicate and hard to work with. Despite being highly time-consuming to glue, they turn out so lovely I keep making more pieces.
My process includes soaking shells in bleach solution to eliminate smell, dipping what shells I can in muriatic acid solution to enhance and brighten colors, and hand-drilling holes for jewelry.
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
It’s definitely tough gaining traction in the artist world but the growing number of local markets I’ve observed corresponding to the “shop small, shop local” movement is encouraging. There’s a lot of competition both from other artists as well as from giant corporations who sell art for pennies.
Having so many local markets is great, but also hard to keep track of and to plan ahead for. There are always ones I’ve missed, some you have to apply months in advance for, and some charge so much per tent space it makes them completely inaccessible to me, given my medium is either hit or miss (I get it, you either love seashells or you don’t). Market patrons often don’t realize that vendors have to pay to sell their own goods, and sometimes we don’t make “rent” – talk about disappointing.
Changing social media platforms have become a challenge to growth as well. You can’t just make great art or take beautiful photos anymore to gain followers and customers, you need to stay current on all the hashtag trends and know how to use the ever-evolving marketing strategies. No wonder there are now college majors devoted to social media, as strange as that seems to me.
It would be great if cities had a localized source geared for vendors showing all available opportunities and then regulated entrance costs to a standard maximum.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Most recently two of my framed pieces were on exhibit at ARTPool Gallery in St. Petersburg for their amazing “Under the Sea” mermaid exhibit and event, but the best way to see and support my work regularly is by purchasing online on Etsy and Society6, or at my various markets in Tampa and St. Pete.
Follow my Instagram and Facebook for current projects and upcoming market dates. Reach out if you’d like any custom art, I’d love to hear from you! I make a lot of custom wedding and baby shower gifts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/seaborncreations
- Email: Seaborncreations@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seaborncreations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seaborncreations
- Other: https://www.society6.com/seaborncreations
Image Credit:
Whitnie Williams
Arielle Bader
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition, please let us know here.
