Tiny Treasures

By Rachel Fields

Rachel Fields is an artist and shell collector from Tampa Bay, Florida, whose fondness for shells began when she made trips to Sanibel as a young adult. On days when shelling wasn’t particularly fruitful, she could still find small/tiny/micro shells if she figured out where to look. Her love for these small treasures evolved from a respect for the intricacy in their tiny designs—her favorite shell is the wentletrap. She says once you develop an eye to find them, they’re easy to pick up.

“My parents tell me a story of my grandparents taking me when I was eight years old to Jones Beach on Long Island, New York,” Rachel says. “The beaches aren’t known for their shells, so my grandparents bought some gift shop shells and dropped them in front of me to find. I took them to my elementary school class for show-and-tell, excited by what I had found on the beach.. My teacher was baffled by these exotic shells, as you could imagine.”

Rachel most often visits Fort Desoto State Park near St. Petersburg, Florida, and travels around Florida to find new shelling beaches.

“A good day out at the beach for me is finding 20-plus wentletraps, but some days you find nada, and others you find over 100.” Rachel loves visiting the beaches on Florida’s west coast, though she finds it harder to find shells there. She would one day love to go shelling in the South Pacific, Australia, and Japan.

She finds most of her shells by walking as far out as the break line in the water and will only take boats to search when she’s on visits to the Ten Thousand Islands. Once she finds her shells, Rachel washes them with soap and then bleach. “Depending on the shell, they will sometimes get a muriatic acid dip as well before being ready to use in a piece of art or necklace.”

Rachel has a full-time job and lives 40 minutes from the beach, so she goes shelling any time she can fit it in her schedule. One day she dreams of opening a shell shop, with locally collected shells and handmade crafts. “I’m not getting any younger and do hope to make that dream a reality soon.” Shelling is her therapy time. “I have a lot of chronic health issues, and being on the beach with the salty air and waves brings me solace I do not find elsewhere.”

“The coolest finds I have from my beachcombing are six purple-colored wentletraps,” Rachel says. “Five were found at Fort Desoto State Park and the other one was found on a trip to Anclote Key, an island just off of Tarpon Springs, Florida.” She tried to find out where the purple hue of these shells came from.

“I’ve found thousands and thousands of wentletraps but only five with this coloring, all appearing to be of the Leali variety. From speaking with Dr. Leal himself, the reason seems to be that these animals can produce colored dye as a defense mechanism against predators.” Rachel tried to bleach the shells, but the purple will not come out.

“Anyway, these are my favorite finds,” she continues. “My mother’s favorite color was purple, and she passed seven years ago. When I find one, I always feel like she put it there for me.”

Even though Rachel collects mostly tiny shells, she has a craft room that is overflowing. In addition, her best finds are spread across her condo, in glass containers, shadow boxes, and on an IKEA coffee table. In her free time, Rachel creates a variety of shadow boxes, pendants, and when she has the motivation, Sailor’s valentines. When asked what her family and friends think of her collection, Rachel says simply, “I think they think I’m insane.”

Still on Rachel’s bucket list of finds are an albino apple murex, a golden alphabet cone, and, of course, a tiny junonia shell.

Rachel loves her home in Tampa Bay and says there is no shortage of things to do. She has worked as a Senior Account Executive for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the last six years. “We have major sports teams, theme parks, beaches, amazing restaurants, and constant cultural events. You never have to be bored living here.” Rachel recommends visiting during January when the Gasparilla Pirate Festival takes place. “Check out a Bucs, Rays, or Lightning game. Take a walk down Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, visit one of the many beautiful beaches, or go to a show and buy cigars in the Ybor City neighborhood. And have a meal at the iconic Bern’s Steakhouse.”

“I’m always happy to share my shelling secrets,” says Rachel. “I know many people keep that information close to the chest, but I believe whatever you find on the beach was meant for you and there’s no reason to gatekeep locations or anything like that. I’m also happy to help show people how to find wentletraps or how I like to shell.”

Reach out to Rachel on Instagram @tampabayhoneyhole or send her a message through her Etsy shop TampaBayHoneyHole.

Learn more about seashells

Learn more about identifying shells, the history of seashell collecting, great shelling beaches, and the lives of the animals who make the shells we find on the beach. Articles ›

No live shelling: Be sure shells are empty and sand dollars, sea stars, and sea urchins are no longer alive before you bring them home.