Amalfi Coast, Italy - Paolo Sandulli

My mother maintains that the interior of your home should be a true reflection of yourself; when a guest walks in they should immediately understand who you are and what you love. I am enamored of all things to do with the sea: cooling turquoise colors, pearlized seashells, coral branches, starfish, and my home mirrors this. Understandingly then, you can imagine my delight upon being introduced to Paolo Sandulli, an Italian artist, whose work incorporates real sea sponge into each handmade masterpiece.

Paolo Sandulli is a fabulous painter and sculptor whose studio is housed in a beautiful stone tower on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. He is an Italian artist who was born in Avellino (the hometown of my great grandparents) and studied in Naples, Rome and Paris before finally settling in the small seacoast town of Praiano. If you have ever spent time in some of the most exclusive luxury hotels in Capri, Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast, you will have surely seen some of Paolo's work.  What I am currently lusting over for my own private collection are Paolo's terra-cotta busts with sea sponge hair shown here:

                                         (All photos © Paolo Sandulli)

While Paolo has many of his pieces already available for purchase in his studio, you may also request a custom order. One of my dear friends, who is a renown interior designer in London, visited Paolo last summer and had him create a bust for her, similar to the ones above, that incorporated a replica of her favorite pair of turquoise earrings.