Michele Capri lives in Ocean Acres now but grew up on Long Beach Island, where she pulls inspiration from the natural world to create decorative objects that cheer and beautify a space. Her canvas might be a seashell, a crab shell, or a choice piece of driftwood. Her main medium is acrylic paint, whimsically combined with clay, sand, twine and love.

This time of year, Capri paints and sculpts a lot of Santas – LBI Santas, patriotic Santas, sports team Santas – on oyster and conch shells.