While looking for a small image for business cards, I remembered the antique trunk decorated with strips of scallop-shell embossed tin that I’d photographed a few weeks ago.
I have a strong fondness for scallop shells, not only because of my name…
These symmetrical beauties have a long symbolic history, linked — among other things — to fertility, the feminine, the setting sun, pilgrimage, death, new life, and love.
Celtic. Greek. Christian. The Goddess and the Saint: Aphrodite and Santiago de Compostella. (As a former Spanish major, I’ve long wanted to trek the Camino, and Venus/Aphrodite has her own appeal…)
In all of these, I see links to creativity.
And so, I’ve cropped a small detail from that embossed tin image, and placed it on my cards.
Apart from the symbolism, I like the image itself and I remain delighted by my find — an old trunk in a room full of sunlight. (There’s a larger image of the scallops on my photo blog.)