Sand. Sea. Sun began as a result of a lifelong love affair with the beach. I was fortunate to grow up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in the village of Cape Hatteras. My summers were spent pretending to be a dolphin or a mermaid and hunting the shoreline for treasures.
As a little girl, I spent hours collecting driftwood, shells, sand and suntans ~ but the best discovery of all was always a genuine piece of seaglass. I still have a few of the pictures and mirrors I would decorate on rainy days, carefully placing each shell, each pebble, each piece of glass.
The years passed as they always do, and while living on the island of St. Thomas I focused my creative side and began making jewelry. Through trial and error and genuine fascination, my jewelry career was born. I sold to my first galleries there, and then began attending retail and wholesale art shows along the East Coast. In 1995 I returned to Hatteras Island and concentrated on the development of my jewelry* lines and the business as a whole.
Much has changed since this picture was taken in 1973, but sometimes ~ if the sun is just right, and I raise my hands over my head, close my eyes and listen to the waves, sometimes I can still believe that I am a mermaid. -- Austin Cake
Surprise someone special with a Gift Card that can be applied to any work of art or artful gift in Ellen's Studio. Gift Cards are delivered to your recipient by email, so are immediate, and include instructions on how to redeem them either in person or online. Ellen's Gift Cards have no additional processing fees and don't expire. They can be used on Ellen's website or in her studio in Ocean View.
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