Still Life with Pearl Nautilus (sold)

I have been searching for a nautilus for a while and they are hard to come by because of restrictions on imports - this one was very old stock at the fishmongers! I will be painting lots of compositions with shells over the next months as I have secured a petite and bijou exhibition space at a nearby National Trust property called A La Ronde. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-alaronde .In the very best English tradition of being spinsters, cousins and with the name Parminter, these two ladies from the recent history of the house, created a unique and now slightly crumbling, shell gallery. I have just under a year to paint lots of pictures including shells, but maybe some of the other objects that they brought back from their Grand Tour too.