Annabel’s lifelong passion for shells was sparked by childhood holidays spent beachcombing on the Isles of Scilly. Following a career in The Art World, she moved to Northamptonshire, where Lockdown provided the perfect opportunity to explore her creative impulse transforming her shell collection into intricate works of art.
Her pieces - mirrors, picture frames, and sculptural wall art - use shells collected along the coasts of Cornwall, Wales, and Norfolk or generously donated by friends and local restaurants. With a strong commitment to sustainability, Annabel works exclusively with empty shells, harvested from British shores.
Each creation is the result of a slow, meditative process requiring meticulous attention to detail. Whether arranged in seemingly organic or precisely ordered patterns, the shells take on a life of their own. “The mussels take charge,” she says. “They begin to form shapes independently, creating movement and rhythm.” Her works evoke murmurations of birds, shoals of fish or the shifting scales of a pangolin - ever-changing with the light, shimmering, and alive. Her larger works, in particular, possess a striking, almost untamed energy.
In 2024, Annabel was invited to participate in Come As You Really Are, a major exhibition in London organised by Artangel, featuring over 1,500 hobbyist artists from across the UK. The show was described by The Londonist as “like the Summer Exhibition but better… surely the most eclectic show to grace London for a while; an eye-opening juxtaposition of people's remarkable artistic endeavours.”
Annabel has exhibited on three occasions in Oxfordshire Artweeks, UK’s largest artist open studios event.
Her larger works are currently on display at The White Horse in Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk, and The Olive Tree in Bridport, Dorset. She also creates bespoke commissions for private clients, with works now held in collections in The Isle of Wight, S. France, Portugal and Manhattan.