beach glass

Beach Glass
Many beachcombers all over the world search out the beautifully frosted and tumbled glass that washes onto the shoreline. Here on the shores of the ever-gorgeous Lake Michigan, we get pretty lucky. Also known as mermaids' tears, beach glass is the product of an incredible process of revision, rediscovery, and interplay. The constant motion of the lake waters grinds stone down to sand. As a principal ingredient in glass, the sand in heated, molded, and colored for its new life as a bottle, piece of glassware, etc. Over time, it is lost or discarded and some of it makes it back to the lake to be tumbled for decades or centuries, only to be rediscovered again as a gem of unique color, shape, and history. It's nature's ultimate example of up-cycling. While the most common colors (clear, kelly green, and brown) usually come from various drink bottles, the rarer cobalt blues, aquas, pinks, and lavenders can be traced to more interesting sources. I especially like the cobalt blues (Milk of Magnesia, poison, and perfume bottles all came in that vibrant color), the pinks (Depression glassware, often given away as "freebies" for other purchases), and the aqua blue, a beautiful color found in old coke bottles.

All of the glass that I use in my designs is genuine beach glass that I have found on the shores of Lake Michigan (or have been given by a generous family member who found it there). None of it has been tumbled or altered in any way except by the lake's natural tumbler.