{Sea} life imitates art
Around here there is no shortage of sea-related home decorations, from lamps to chairs to tiles. But, people might be hard-pressed to find something hand-made that not everybody has, that tells a story and does it in no way another piece could.
Coastal Point • Darin McCann
Mac McKeown of Sea Art Studio with client Gail Belt, stand in front of a work commissioned by Belt for her master bath shower.
“Everything you’re looking at,” said Mac McKeown, of Sea Art Studio, pointing to one of his designs, “was once alive. I love nature and I figured there has to be a way to implement nature in art to make people happy.”
McKeown, a former commercial fisherman, would always collect shells and decorative glass and other items from sea, saying he wasn’t quite sure what he would eventually do with it. One day about eight years ago, he said he knew he had something when he decided to use the items to make hand-made tiles that replicate sea life. To his knowledge, he said, it is something no one else is doing.
The designs can depict anything from underwater scenes, to “kissing fishes,” to schools of fishes swimming to trees or birds or dolphins. Although not as common, he has done pieces that are not sea-related at all, yet they are totally comprised of shells, and other fossils, such as bunches of grapes, or bouquets of flowers. McKeown said he has about 1,700 species and literally millions of shells to work with.
He uses his imagination to create a scene, or works with a client to create one, then makes a template he can show the client, and then gets to work. Although careful not to divulge too much about how the process actually works, he said it is a 50-step process that he perfected over the years. The tiles are created using a system working with species, spacing, sizing, coloration, and symmetry. All shells are hand-cut, filled and set and no glue or paint is applied. He said he is careful not to use endangered species in his work.
He has commissioned pieces and for much of his work, he works with high-end design stores. Although mostly used as wall art, his most recent challenge came in the form of a custom piece for a shower, a first for McKeown.
Gail Belt, who owns a home in Sea Colony, saw one of his small tiles at Paul Morin’s Floor and Wall Design, where her contractor, Bill Helms, of Assorted Services, Inc. had sent her. She had worked with Helms before on a kitchen renovation.
Coastal Point • Darin McCann
Mac McKeown of Sea Art Studio also designed this tile for Belt’s second bathroom.
Belt had been inspired by a neighbor’s recent bathroom update and wanted something special for the home she and her husband share. Belt, a native of California, loves the ocean and the water and has her condo decorated in “sea motif.”
“Kathy (Lyons, of Morin’s) and I had been struggling with how to capture a focal point for the two walk-in showers that would be beautiful, not run of the mill, and echo and reflect my love of the sea and sea life.”
Belt said she found a small tile that was sitting out and asked about it and Lyons told her it was made by a local artist and would probably work with her.
“The only worry was because it is all natural and can stick out — the coral reef I saw in the store projected out just as it would in life so it was sharp — we were concerned that someone could scratch themselves.”
Belt said she was reassured by the store that if the artist knew what he was making it for, that he could adjust the end-product and make it totally smooth, something that she said worked out beautifully.
“He adapted it, so it had no sharp edges, we just love it. We are thrilled with it. I am thinking of possibly doing one back at home.
“I personally found what Mac did appealing for a couple of reasons, one is that it is literally all sea-life, not manufactured. Everything is a sea creature, or shell or sand. He even uses shark’s teeth, seahorses and starfish.”
She added that because of the location of her two custom tiles, one in her hall bath shower, and one in the master bath shower, she gets to look at the art and enjoy it everyday, even more so than if it were a piece of wall or table art. And the colored tiles that surround the piece, as suggested by Kathy, really help the tiles to stand out, much like the right frame would a work of art, as they surely are.
“It’s fun, I’m glad we did it. When Mac walked in, even his jaw dropped, and he’s the one who made it!” said Belt, with a laugh. “I wasn’t looking for it,” she added, “but it is better than anything I could have picked.”
Belt said she was happy with all the help she received in the creation of her custom masterpiece, from Kathy to Mac to her contractor, Bill, and would highly recommend them to anyone.
For more information on general contractor Bill Helms of Assorted Services, Inc. visit them in the Edgewater House lobby at Sea Colony, call (302) 537-0319 or visit them online at www.assortedservicesinc.net. For more information on Paul Morin’s Floor and Wall Design, call (302) 539-7322. For more information on artist Mac McKeown, of Sea Art Studio, visit seartstudio.com.
