I’m Katrina Cunningham and I began collecting sea glass from Seaham in the North East of England because the colours and shapes of the pieces I found were so beautiful.
After learning how to work with sterling silver at Leeds College of Art and Design, I now create a range of jewellery using my very own ‘sea jewels’.
My work is designed to showcase the beauty of this special material, though I also create sterling silver items such as hammered bangles and rings. My pieces are handmade and the shape of the sea glass often determines the design of the finished item.
Sea glass is found all over the world, sea glass is essentially pieces of glass, ground smooth by the action of the sea. Taking anything from 20 to 100 years to complete the process, the end results can be exquisite.
Sea glass is originally made by man (bottles and jars) but refined by nature to become smooth frosty beach found gems. Sea glass begins as bottles & glass that get tossed on the shore, broken, and then tumbled smooth by the waves and currents. Nature acts like a big rock tumbler recycling our pollution!
One of my favourite beaches is Seaham on the north sea coast.
Seaham sea glass is unique and found in many colours due to the bottle works.
The bottle works produced up to 20,000 hand-blown bottles every day, in different colours and designs including hand crafted bottles, perfume bottles and household glass, all of which were distributed across the globe.
The bottle works would dump large amounts of waste glass straight into the North Sea and that’s where Seaham’s sea glass story began! That’s why with each new tide, you’re certain to find coloured little gems along Seaham’s shore, which have been shaped and smoothed by the North Sea for over 100 years.
