The Painted Oyster

The Painted Oyster One-of-one contemporary artworks inspired by Vancouver Island. Place, light and memory are captured on reclaimed Pacific oyster shells. Originals available.

Message to collect

10/07/2026

Latitude explores the structures we move through in life. Each stage shapes us, changes us, and becomes part of the foundation for what comes next.

The shells move through the copper lines as a reflection of how we contract, expand and evolve over time.
Pacific Arts Market

10/05/2026

Transformation is rarely a single moment.

It happens through movement, pressure, change, and the space between what was and what is becoming.

Latitude is about that passage. About shifting position, changing perspective, and discovering that what once felt fixed can move.

Full reveal in 2 days.
Pacific Arts Market

10/01/2026

Pacific Arts Market creates a welcoming space to explore the art of Vancouver Island

09/28/2026

This feels like such a beautiful milestone.

The Painted Oyster is officially joining Pacific Arts Market in downtown Nanaimo on October 1st. Seeing this work, and the story behind it, welcomed into a gallery space feels incredibly special.

A new chapter begins in 4 sleeps✨

09/26/2026

Transformation begins long before we can see where it is leading. Copper, structure, movement. The next piece is beginning to find its form.

09/23/2026

Each shell carries a small piece of copper on its back. It may be hidden in the finished work, but I know it is there. I keep thinking about the things we carry through change, and how they become part of who we are.

These shells are finding their place in a much larger piece. I’ll share more as it takes shape.
Hit those three buttons to help me advance my art.

Today I asked Google to find artists creating abstract artwork directly on oyster shells. I didn’t mention The Painted O...
09/22/2026

Today I asked Google to find artists creating abstract artwork directly on oyster shells.

I didn’t mention The Painted Oyster, and I turned off my location.

This was the answer.

Now, I’m taking Google’s rather generous description with a grain of Salish Sea salt. Search results are not an art jury, and technology can know more about us than we realize. Still, seeing The Painted Oyster appear first made me pause.

When I began painting these shells, I wasn’t trying to reproduce something I had seen elsewhere, quite the opposite actually.

I saw each reclaimed Pacific oyster shell as its own small, three-dimensional canvas, shaped by tide, weather and time.
I see each shell as a simile for our lives. Transformation, adaptability and beauty where others don’t see.

Perhaps what we are creating here really is a little unusual.

And that feels rather wonderful. ❤️



09/17/2026

Two works. Two collections. One enduring bond.

Her Tide, My Tide from Moorecroft
All Our Tides from Weathering

For mothers and daughters who may travel different waters, yet always remain part of the same sea.

Both framed originals are available thepaintedoyster.com

Something extraordinary is taking shape in the studio.Deep water. Gathering skies. A sudden break of light.The newest pi...
09/15/2026

Something extraordinary is taking shape in the studio.

Deep water. Gathering skies. A sudden break of light.

The newest pieces from Weathering have just received their resin finish and are still curing. I couldn’t resist sharing this first glimpse.

Coming soon.

09/13/2026

A first glimpse at the palette behind a new collection. Storm-washed blue, deep charcoal and molten gold, coming together in ways I did not entirely expect.

The studio is messy. The vision is becoming clear.

A new collection is coming soon.

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Nanaimo, BC
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