Cape Cod - Index

Cape Cod - travel_guide_2008 - Index

eye for detail and color use, have garnered multiple awards, as well
articles in Martha Stewart Living, Yankee Magazine, Coastal Living
and the Wall Street Journal. She has also appeared on Martha
Stewart’s television show twice.
Moran says she works between 60 and 70 hours per week in the
studio at her home. She spends the winter months in Florida,
where she has a studio similar to the one in here, and works just as
hard while she’s there. “I wouldn’t go down there if I didn’t work,”
she says.
In her Yarmouthport studio, shelves lined with clear Lucite
boxes are filled with thousands and thousands of shells, neatly
arranged by color. The shapes of the shells are so unusual, and the
colors so vibrant, it seems impossible that they are actually created
by nature.
Tucked into a corner are some of Moran’s finished pieces. Each
is created in a handmade octagonal box with the repeating shell
pattern in the classic style of an antique sailor’s valentine, but these
pieces blend the traditional look with more modern elements. It is
a look that Moran has become known for.
“This is my signature piece with the Nantucket basket,” she
says, pointing out one of the completed valentines. The basket, a
perfect miniature of the well-known style, is hand woven, Moran
notes.
Many of the works on display feature a miniature of some kind
as the centerpiece. “I use a lot of scrimshaw pieces,” says Moran,
“and oil paintings.”
The oil paintings are lovely landscapes, flawless renditions
done to scale, but they may measure only two inches by three
inches.
Beginning first with an idea and then a sketch, Moran says she
spends about 75 hours on a typical valentine. She also does
miniature versions, measuring about three inches across, which
“take forever and use hundreds of shells.”
Once she has decided on the design, Moran must sort the shells,
an arduous task that requires hours. Not only do the shells need to
be selected according to species, they must also match exactly.
Pointing to a flower—one of many in a completed piece,
Moran explains how the shells used to create its petals are sorted: “If
you take a bivalve apart, it’s not the same shape on either side. So if
you’re making six petals, they all have to be right or left sides.”
Moran uses things such us baby sea urchin spines, no more than
■ shopping cape & islands
half an inch long, to give valentines a 3D effect, or Baja coral in a
deep lavender shade for vibrant color. Opening and closing drawers
below all those neatly arranged shelves, Moran jokes, “It doesn’t
end…it takes years to amass a collection like this.”
She has a simple view of why people seem to be so enchanted
with sailor’s valentines: “I think people like to have the sea in their
house.” ■
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Arts Guide was made
possible through support
from the Massachusetts
Cultural Council.
For more information about Sandy Moran and other artists and
craftspeople on Cape Cod and the Islands, pick up a copy of the Arts
& Artisans Trails guide, produced by the Cape Cod Chamber of
Commerce. More than 200 local artists and artisans are featured,
from driftwood sculptors to scrimshanders. Following the trails
outlined in the book will lead you to unique characters—people
who love what they do and love sharing their work with
visitors. The guide is available for $9.95 through the Cape Cod
Chamber of Commerce. www.capeandislandsartsguide.com.
Crafting a sailor’s valentine is
painstaking work, as Cotuit artist
Gregg Roberts demonstrates.
GREGG ROBERTS
www.capecodtravelguide.com
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