Conch

This beautiful icon of the tropics is way too pretty to have such an weird-looking occupant. The conch is delicious, both raw and cooked – just don’t look too closely at all the ooey-gooey stuff that makes up her body parts. The famous Queen Conch can reach up to 12” in length and pack a whole lot of seafood, since it’s all edible. Conches very, very rarely produce pearls of pinkish hue and bearing a slight iridescence. (Note to self: Add locating conch pearl to Bucket List.)

There are so many wonderful colors in this handpainted pillow that it is bound to look great at your abode. Use it outdoors or indoors; the all-weather fabric laughs at the sun, wind, rain and airborne radioactive particulates. Measures 19” x 19” x 5” thick and is stuffed with polyester fiberfill in a removable casing. May be spot cleaned, hosed off or gently washed in cool water and air dried.

I had the good fortune to hand-select the conch shell of my dreams on a trip to The Bahamas, and it is a treasured item. I also have another one which has been converted into a horn. Believe it or not, the best conch blower in the family is a six year old boy! (Shades of “Lord of the Flies”!)

Here you see my humble efforts to depict the beauty of this gift from nature, just as it might appear if you came upon it on the water’s edge of some sun-drenched tropical island. Designed, painted, sewn, stuffed, signed and copyrighted here on a decidedly non-tropical island in Washington State. But I have my memories of The Bahamas . . .

Everybody loves the conch, it seems, to the point of overfishing. So now the export of beautiful Queen Conch shell as well as its contents has been halted to give the species a chance to recover. This cushion provides legal, guilt-free enjoyment of the wonderful conch, as well as keeping this artist gainfully employed. Thank you for looking.