Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Who Says White Seaglass is Boring?

White Seaglass
White or clear is the most common colour of natural seaglass found. That doesn't mean it's never of interest.  Recently I found several cool pieces in fabulous shapes. They were of the clean-looking, pearly white variety. The odd-shaped nugget on the left is destined for a keychain methinks. The others may end up as pendants or Christmas ornaments...I will know when I go to wrap them in silver.
 All of them are heavily frosted, so must be several decades old. Frosting occurs when the soda and lime are leached naturally from the glass by the sea. This is a very long process and it can take a 100 years or so to produce a really 'crusty-looking' piece.


Found on a Dublin shore, this fan-like, sun-ray design is stunning. I would hazard a guess that this piece is from a bowl or decorative dish of some sort. It reminds me of some of my Mum's Irish crystal. Wrapping it in silver wire will be a challenge as I don't want to cover up the pattern, but rather, work with it. I am half tempted to use this as a paperweight (though I have to admit, paperweights are surplus to my needs and I'm not a big fan of shelf brick a brack.)
This shell-like piece reminds me of a certain potato crisp (chip to you in the USA.) It will make a pretty pendant as it is the perfect size and shape.
frosted seaglass bottle stopper
 I was thrilled to find this bottle top. It's especially rare to find one of these on the Irish coast.

Unfortunately, it's not completely intact but it is nonetheless, a very special find. Again, I may keep this one but if I decide to wrap it, it will present an interesting challenge.

White seaglass may not be so rare, but you can make lots of beautiful things with it. Here are some of the items I've made from white seaglass:




(fairy ornament, sold)


To learn about shades of BLUE seaglass click: HERE
To learn about shades of GREEN seaglass click: HERE
To see PALE (SEAFOAM ETC) shades of seaglass  click HERE

To find out how to clean seaglass and sea pottery click HERE






4 comments:

  1. Sea glass has such a mystical feel - even the name gives me goose bumps !
    These white pieces are amazing - it must be so exciting to find each one.
    I had no idea they could look like that or be so old.
    Always love the way you describe the time + thought that goes into how to wire wrap each one. Beautiful.

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  2. I love your work, and all these informations are so important to understand it better! Would you like once to write about this passion, from where it come from?

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    1. cheers Elatrossa. (If I understand your question right?)I guess the passion for creativity comes from my talented Mum, who can turn her hand to anything crafty. I wrote about her on the Etsy blog a couple of years ago...I must do it again here on my own blog.

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  3. ...thank you! Of course I remember the stories about your talented mother!

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