About the Seashell Designer Iona Parris

It all started in 2009 in Valdosta Georgia, when Iona Parris, who was in the United States Air Force at the time. She had just come back from her deployment in Kuwait. She was happy to be back home, but struggling with PTSD.  She needed an outlet to coop with having had been gone so long and trying to adjust with being back at home. One day she was at home and she saw some seashells she on her desk she had collected from a beach trip she took awhile ago. She got out her nail polish and started painting them different colors. She realized how relaxed it made her feel when she was painting the seashells. She love the different shapes and sizes of the shells. She loved how painting them told and giving them a different story. She loved making them look even more beautiful then they than they already were. Iona Parris eventually started showcasing her seashell artwork to family and friends who encouraged her to continue to make more pieces and start a business, but she needed a name. She remembered her Grandmother Princess Iona Parris, who was an elegant classy woman who loved the beach and all things luxurious and decided to name her seashell collection after her. Fast forward today many people have enjoyed Iona's seashells artwork and jewelry including movie stars and tv stars. Iona's mission is to continue to find and design the best seashells around world.

Message From Iona Parris:

I will start off by saying I love the beach. This is probably the biggest understatement, because I am OBESSESED with the beach! I love everything about it, but the biggest thing would be that it gives me calm and serene feelings. The ocean just puts everything in perspective for me. We try to control everything around us, but we cannot control the ocean. The waves move whenever it wants, and we can do nothing to it but enjoy it. We can build homes and hotels around it, but we cannot move it. The sea also gives us little gifts called seashells. No two seashells are alike, they can be very similar but even the ones you may find still attached together have the slightest of differences. That’s what makes them unique and special. And behind every seashell you’ve ever picked up there is a different story behind them….theirs and yours. Since we may never know there’s I choose to write my own. Designing these special seashells is definitely a labor of love. I choose to design seashells how I view beautiful and luxurious…the riches of the sea. Every seashell has its own beauty to me, even the flawed and the broken ones. It reminds me of humanity flawed, perfectly imperfect, and never the same but special in our own way.