Sea glass finds

On Monday we had the opportunity to walk on the beach. It was an overcast day, and the light was diffuse and watery. The sea and the sky were similar shades of blue-grey. The beach was largely abandoned, apart from a few people fishing.

My friend Ariadne from Greece introduced me to the world of collecting sea glass a few years ago. I have been following her photos of her finds and the artwork she creates with sea glass. Here is a piece she sent me last year, a felted stone decorated with sea glass, beads, and shells:

Since then I have always looked out for sea glass when I'm on the beach, here in Israel, on holiday in Greece, and even in England. So far I haven't had much success, only finding one or two pieces each time.

This time I found a good collection of sea glass of many different colours and sizes, and also an interesting fragment of a painted cup or plate. I think the storm last week must have brought in such a rich variety of finds from the sea.

Sea glass is an interesting combination of a product made by humans out of sand, which is then used and discarded, its broken fragments smoothed and roughened by the sea, and finally tossed back onto the sand of a beach to be found and reused in its new, altered state. It represents an interesting cycle of nature and art.