Sea glass is glass which is found on beaches after having been tumbled smooth by the sea over an undetermined length of time. Some of the glass is very old, from an era when glass was far more widely used, and attitudes to the environmental damage caused by dropping litter into the sea were somewhat different to what they are today.
There is an infinite variety of colours of sea glass, and of course every single piece of sea glass is totally one off, having been on its own unique journey through the tides and currents of the ocean. Some of it has travelled great distances, washing up on shores far away from where it was originally dumped, whilst other pieces have stayed trapped for decades in harbours, dropped by sailors and smoothed and tumbled by the tides whilst yachts and fishing boats go by.
The older pieces tend to be smoother, and rounded in shape, whilst the newer pieces wash up in all manner of squared or flat shapes. In jewellery all different shapes are used , and to great effect. The special 'glow' of sea glass, the way in which each piece catches the light in a different way, and the variety of subtle shades - pale aquas, frosted whites, palest blues to deepest colbalt blues and of course the array of greens all add to the magic and mystery of sea glass.
Recently my passion for genuine Sea Glass has led me to look for this increasingly rare commodity further afield. I have managed to source some amazing examples of glass, some of which are at least 100 years old, that were discarded from an old glass processing in the North East of England, at Seaham in Durham. I have started to design around these pieces of glass, and I really love the pieces I have made.
I know many of my customers are drawn to my work because it is from Cornwall, using Cornish sea glass and this will not change! I have not incorporated any of this new beautiful glass in my work yet, but when I do, it will be clearly marked.