Reclaimed Maine

What is sea glass?

Sea, beach or ocean glass, mermaid's tears, sea foam, Neptune's jewels...

Romantic names, but what is it?

Sea glass is glass, washed up on the beach and coastlines. One discarded as rubbish, washed overboard from shipping, washed out to see from coast side landfill, the glass is broken into small shards. The movement of the waves and tides, washing the shards of glass against rocks, pebbles and sand softens the edges to make smooth, frosted and often pitted treasures with a hidden history.

Sometimes the pieces of sea glass are textured with writing or patterning that will hint at their origin. Perhaps the shape of piece shows it was probably a bottle rim or base. Frequently the color is an indication of the glass' former use, for example, cobalt blue was often used in the UK for medicine or poison bottles. Often these will be styles and colors no longer in production and the challenge of dating a piece begins.

It is estimated that most pieces of sea glass will have taken decades to become the smooth shapes that I use for my art pieces.

Rare colors, such as blue, amber and aqua can be from glass discarded over 50 years ago. Black, often a very dark green, can be several hundreds of years old. Lilac may have taken its colors from the chemicals used in clear glass manufacture reacting with strong sunlight.

Much of the sea glass I collect comes from inaccessible small coves, rather than soft sandy beaches; nature is determined that her jewels will be hard to find!

Each area yields a different range of colors.

More unusual colors such as blue, once common in Maine, purple, always a rare find, can now often only be obtained from overseas and are sourced from fellow collectors.

Is it real sea glass?

It is possible to make imitation 'sea glass' using tumbling machines and acids to etch and smooth rough and unfrosted surfaces. Some of this will have started out as last week's wine and beer bottles. Some of it may even have been collected off a beach in a raw and broken state and tumbled with beach sand and possibly sea water! The unscrupulous will market this as genuine sea glass. Look for the characteristic 'C' shaped pitting which frequently is visible on genuine sea glass compared to the completely smooth frosting which is probably man made. Ask questions of the vendor. While they may not disclose which beaches they comb, they should be able to tell you enough to convince you it is genuine. Price can be an indication of origin but may not be. Perfect pieces of rare colors such as cobalt blue or red are not often sold for pennies!

All of the sea glass I use is genuine collected by my husband and myself from beaches discovered on our travels throughout Maine.

Collecting sea glass is unpredictable; we can discover a new beach, and collect many pieces; we can visit familiar beaches expecting to find some and come away with just one piece. Discovering the beach is often as exciting as discovering the sea glass. Sometimes we have to wade through banks of kelp, washed up after a storm, to get to the shoreline. Other times the beach will be deserted and it is possible to lose oneself to ones thoughts as you wander along the beach with the sun on your back and the cry of the sea birds for company.

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