Sea Glass

In our hunting for shells we always picked up the bits of glass and ceramic that we would fine worn by the sea and washed ashore. Eventually, I began to use wire to make these into pendants.

The idea and technique was gifted to me by an Argentinian sailor named Daniel. A very unique and understated individual, he was ship-hopping his way around the world. (He did get his own boat eventually I heard.) He had long and wild curly hair, a black patch over one eye, and limited English. But, during his stay around the Double Deuce (my mother-in-laws once beach shack bar and restaurant where I first met Lightnin' and worked for years after) he managed to teach me this fine craft and a bit about Argentina - at least how to drink yerba mate with him properly. I have not strayed far from this original technique, not for lack of ideas, but for the sense that this is a true design that captures the motion of the ocean in its swirls.

Just another tidbit about sea glass: "Where does it come from?" people wonder. Here in the Caribbean much of it may have its source in the old sailing ships that used to ply these waters. I read that they used broken glass as ballast in their hulls - and plenty of those hulls ended up in pieces at the bottom of the sea or dashed upon the rocky shores. So our sea glass finds its way into human hands again. But truly it could come from anywhere...I love the mystery of travel.