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Manchester resident Mary Marko has combined her love of the beach and sea shells with a newfound passion for crafting that she discovered following her retirement.

While Marko creates a variety of larger shapes such as a cross, heart and star, she always makes smaller pieces such as angels, owls and people.

“I have a friend Mona who lives in Navarre Florida and we started doing crafts together,” Marko said. “Whenever we go there we are always looking for shells and I am like, I have all these shells what do I do with them, so I just started making projects.”

Marko, who moved to Manchester about eight months ago, sells her sea shell art at Foothills Crafts in Manchester.

“I was actually driving by and I saw the craft store and I turned right in here and I came in to find out about it and I found out it is a nonprofit organization and joined with them about three weeks or a month ago,” she said.

Marko said about 99% of the shells she uses come directly from the Florida coastline.

After assembling the sea shells into a shape, Marko will glue them and then use a resin that gives them a glossy shine as well as helps harden the piece and help keep all the shells firmly in place.

“I think that is what really got me doing the shells, because I do love the beach, I love the ocean,” Marko said. “Just picking up even the broken pieces. There are some whole ones but there are broken ones that now have a home.”

“I never thought I had such an imagination, but I do,” she added.

Marko said she first sold her handcrafted sea shell works at a store called Sand Dollar Collage in Navarre, Florida, but she is happy to be bringing her work north to Tennessee.

“I know there have to be people in Tennessee that love shells too,” she said.

Marko said has a small trailer set up for her to crate her shell art in, and she goes out there to create new things whenever the mood strikes her.

“Lately I have been going out daily,” she said. “Now that it has gotten a little warmer I go out daily to my little trailer that I have my crafts in, my little she-shed trailer, and I just go out there and if I am feeling it I do it.”

Of all the pieces that she has made, Marko said her favorite would have to be a ship’s anchor made out of seashells.

Marko said that while there is always the possibility that she could run out of seashells to create with, it just means she will have to take another trip to Florida to collect more.

When it comes to crafting, Marko said her best advice to others would be not to doubt themselves and see what happens.

“Just go and enjoy it, whether you sell it or not you will be proud of yourself with what you end up with,” she said.