Mermaid's Tears

My husband's job took us to England where destiny introduced me to the Mermaids Tears. The moment I set my eyes on the glass which was hiding in the rocks along the North Sea coastline I became fascinated by the shapes and unique colors and knew I had to collect more and more. Nearly every day for six years I scoured the beach to find the largest and most unique pieces. Many days I fought biting winds and frigid waters, which is characteristic of the North Sea in this region; however I donned my rain gear and knee pads and continued down the steep banks which took me to the rocky beach.

In time my curiosity about the unusual glass drew me to ask questions which eventually led me to the library in the small local fishing village. I was loaned three hand written books by mariners of years past. I learned one of the first glass making industries sprang up in this location before the birth of Christ and continued into the 1800's. The Romans docked their ships three miles from my hunting ground. They used scrap glass from cathedral windows and other artifacts as ballast for their boats. Periodically they would dump excess waste into the sea. The scrap glass was often a fused mixture of a variety of colored glass, which gave these beautiful pieces their unique colors. Years of tumbling on the rocky floor of the North Sea has contributed to their rounded shapes. The colored and distinctly marked pieces are a rare find and are truly one of a kind.

I have taken my talent to transform this scrap into beautiful pieces of jewelry set in silver and gold. I would like to think that the Roman artisans that established England's glass industry would be proud of what I have created from their castaways. These rare gems are diminishing and one day they will be lost under mounds of rock and sand leaving only the legends of what was once know by the Romans as: MERMAIDS TEARS.