I started collecting sea glass as a distraction during lockdown. Remember - that strange time when perfectly sane people would rather face the peril of oncoming traffic and walk in the road than walk too close to another human being. We spent a lot of time on the beach and the sea was the edge of our world. But it didn't feel restricted or claustrophobic - quite the opposite, in fact, and the vast skies and endless waves helped to keep us grounded and connected to reality (proper old-style reality and not the peculiar 'new normal' world in which we were living). I often found myself taking off to the beach alone to metaphorically scream at the sea!
It was the glass sparkling in the sunshine that first attracted my attention on one of our many walks and I remembered collecting it as a little girl on Maidens beach. We started to pick it up and soon our pockets were sandy and full of sea treasure.
We became more organised. A dog poo bag (empty) proved to be an adequate sea glass collecting kit. After finishing work, I'd be met by B at the bottom of the stairs, brandishing said bag. "Are you ready?"
We did get some funny looks. "Don't tell anyone what we're doing," I'd hiss. To be honest, it did look a bit odd, especially if our own dog wasn't with us, and it looked like we were doing some extreme beach cleaning and picking up other dogs' poo. If either of us went on a foray alone, we must have looked like the kind of person you would take a wide detour to avoid.
At first the washed glass was deposited in a plastic box but then my inclination to classify and arrange it took over and it found its way into numerous colour-coded glass jars. I spent many hours researching pottery and glass-makers' marks and dating some of my finds. And still we kept collecting. What was I going to do with it all?
It's the colours and the light shining through the frosted glass that I love so much. That and the secret history. Where did it come from, to whom did it belong and how long has it been in the sea being tossed around by the waves and eroded by the sand and rocks? Just liberating it from the sand changed the course of its destiny and creating a new purpose for this discarded detritus of the sea is so rewarding.
I no longer care what anyone thinks. Why am I picking up old bits of glass and pottery? Well, just look at how it can be transformed!
Visit the sea glass gallery on the website to see some of what I have made and see it all on Etsy where you can also buy the pictures. You can leave a comment below too.
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