I have always been drawn to the sea collecting seashells along the northeastern shores of the USA. Years ago, as a teacher on Cape Cod, I learned about the art of Sailor's Valentines. It was through this art form that the idea to create standing flowers out of the shells emerged.The dream of creating flowers out of  collected shells became a reality in 2017 when I made wedding bouquets for my dear friend's wedding. She had always wanted a beach wedding. I offered to make her bouquets from parts of the sea that wouldn't ever shrivel and die. I spent a few weeks studying the blossoms in my own home gardens before recreating them with seashells. By using shells collected from the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and from the Mediterranean coast off Bacoli, Italy I created bunches of individual flowers, and a New England favorite, blue hydrangea. Thus began... 
Fiori di Mare CT (Flowers of the Sea CT).
"Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art"~Claude Debussy