Do you know that it is actually illegal to collect pebbles and sand from the beach? Interestingly, whether for your garden or for art, the Coast Protection Act of 1949 made it illegal to gather anything natural from the coastline for personal or industrial usage.
What isn’t illegal to forage however, is a little-known medium called sea glass. Though, if you’re like me, then you might have thought that collecting such a thing was dangerous. After all, broken glass must be sharp and dangerous, right? Well sea glass, that may have started out as a sharp shard of glass from a shattered bottle, is often super smooth. This is because it often spends years rolling around in the sea where it is tumbled around until all its sharp edges have been rounded off. Such a process is mainly a result not only of strong ocean currents but also the salt in the water, an element which also helps to give the glass a frosted appearance. Over the past century many people have found these tiny bits of pebble like glass to be a source of beauty, particularly when it has come to creating mosaics and jewellery. Yet our journey here begins with a fascination with illustration.
‘Growing up I loved drawing and painting using the likes of acrylic’ Erica tells me in her thick Scottish accent. ‘My family are all creative, my mum actually painted that picture there’ she says, pointing toward the painting behind her. Despite her early interest with illustration however, Erica didn’t end up studying art. Instead, like many, her passion for it was reignited later on during that strange year of 2020. ‘It was early 2020 and I was just feeling quite down and depressed’ she expresses. ‘I needed to get away and have a walk down the beach, as I felt that I just needed a talk with God in prayer, so I went to South Queens Ferry in Edinburgh, just under the classic Forth bridge... and I was just looking down as I was just feeling so sad and that’s when I noticed sea glass’.
‘Sea glass is something that might have started as a piece of a broken glass bottle but has then spent years being tumbled around in the sea for years until it’s been smoothed and polished...’ Erica informs me. ‘It’s been through the trials, turmoil and now suddenly it’s on a beach feeling scattered and useless, but as a Christian I believe that’s what God does with me in my life. As I believe that God is in the process of transforming people into new creations; we’re no longer fit for our original purpose but God can still see the beauty in us and use us for his purpose. So I felt that if God can do that with me, then that’s what I can do with that little bit of sea glass... so ultimately that day I picked up a multitude of colours and thought I’d create a picture out of them’. In that regard, as well as being an aesthetically pleasing medium, the collection process itself for Erica is a therapeutic one and a means by which to better connect with her Christian faith. Though, as she is keen to point out, if she is to accumulate any of this glass at all, then she needs to take the location into consideration.
‘As I only use Scottish sea glass for my works, I tend to search for my sea glass around Edinburgh [which lies on the east coast of Scotland], because if you go to the other side of Scotland there’s barely anything there... I spent a few hours on a beach just north of Oban [northwestern Scotland] once and found only like one or two pieces of sea glass, but when I go to St. Andrews [eastern Scotland] I can find hundreds of pieces, so it literally just depends on where you are’. On this note, did you know that there are in fact entire beaches made of sea glass? In California’s Fort Bragg for instance, there is a beach that is literally called ‘Sea Glass Beach’ due to the entire coastline in that area being made up of sea glass. Of course, many may see this as a tragedy, particularly when you consider that sea glass is both formed and built up as a result of polluting the world’s oceans with glass. This is why sea glass collecting is, in some ways, encouraged across much of Europe to clean up our beaches. Yet in some parts of the U.S. however, such as Sea Glass Beach, the practice is in fact prohibited in order to preserve the remarkable colours that a beach made up entirely of sea glass can produce.
Before the 1950s, prior to the universal use of plastics to store almost everything, nearly all our products were stored in glass jars and bottles. Since environmentally friendly garbage disposal and recycling practices in those days were virtually non-existent, countries and companies would frequently dump all their used glass into the sea. The issue was that over the years these shards, whilst they may have become pretty little pieces of glass, also became so small that they began to be ingested by marine life. And if they’re being consumed by the fish we put on our plates for dinner, then, as some scientists argue, we are also at risk of consuming them.
On the back of such concerns, many environmental groups applaud sea glass as an art form that is good for the environment. Indeed, it may have been something to include within the ‘Artivists’ edition that was released last year. In that sense, Artivism is a growing movement that looks to infuse art with activism. Many of its supporters for instance, such as the ArtfromHeart organisation, look to create artworks using environmentally friendly practices and also put together pieces that highlight the dangers of the likes of global warming, overfishing and deforestation. ‘I wouldn’t consider myself to be an environmentalist per-say’ Erica tells me. ‘But I am interested in the current movement that’s going on called ‘craftivism’. Again, craftivism here seems to be the same thing as artivism but instead of people utilising art to advocate for friendlier environmental practices, they use crafts (a theme for another issue perhaps?). Far from embarking upon any sort of environmental pilgrimage however, Erica will often begin her creative process, if not out of passion, then as a result of a commission. Though, this can sometimes be a bit tricky.
‘Someone will often come to me asking for a wedding or birthday present and I’ll ask them what colours and designs they’d like to have. From there I’ll go off and sketch a brief outline of the piece before then checking what sea glass I have in stock’ Erica says. ‘Though, in terms of creating your pieces, particularly when it comes to commissions, I can imagine it may be a bit difficult for you at times. I mean, if a painter wants to create something that’s red in colour but they don’t have it in stock, then they can just go and buy that colour. But if you don’t have a particular colour, and as you only use Scottish sea glass, then I imagine that you just have to go out and try to find it. So I suppose that you can’t always be sure if you’ll find the right colours for your projects?’ I ask.
‘It’s definitely not guaranteed if I’ll find the right sea glass, you never know what you’re going to come across on a beach. I’ve never come across a red bit of Scottish sea glass for instance’. In this regard, for Erica the sea glass itself acts as the foundations for her designs. Her use of illustration is then only to ‘add a story’ to the design. ‘I have come across some jewel colours though and when I do, I’ll have a wee celebration on the beach because they’re so rare’ she expresses. ‘It’ll be the smallest piece, but I’ll try my best to make it work. For example, in one of my designs there’s a white bit of sea glass with the smallest hint of red in it, so I just had to use it as a robin. I’m also absolutely gutted that I can never seem to find any deep purples or pinks – and I’m very jealous of the artists that do!’ she laughs. Indeed, Erica might just be the first artist we’ve come across where the availability of material has such a fundamental impact upon their design process – and one that depends so entirely on what our coastlines provide.
Post-face:
Although this opening article may have been rather light in tone, compared to the deeper themes that tend to unravel as the articles continue, I chose to conclude with this one for a reason. Our coastlines may appear picturesque, fun to play around on, a joy to explore, a source of exercise and spiritual fulfilment. Yet it is for these very reasons, amongst many others, from the maintenance of marine ecosystems to the food we consume, that makes the preservation of our coastal environments so vital.
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