Firstly, I have to apologize for the infrequency of posts. When you are living in a blank apartment without any things, it is kind of hard to think about decorating it - as least beyond daydreaming of having furniture. At any rate, today I went to a beach near Mutsu (in Aomori, here in Japan) called Shipwreck Beach. A friend who has been living here for a few years brought me. Amazing. We walked across the dunes to get to the beach where there were all kinds of birds and flowers.
We were hunting for sea glass down on the beach like many of the locals. Why you ask? A very clever interior designer friend is a collector. The Japanese use beautiful glass floats for fishing nets. While it is extremely rare to find an entire float (apparently it does happen!) you can usually find a lot of broken pieces from these and bottles too. This beach is known as where to find them, and of course litter lands here too. However, it is the mother lode for sea glass!
It was grey with a breeze (we also had to be there at four am for the low tide, hence it isn't fully bright) but look at the treasures we found! I am sending the big ones (and a few of the babies) to my friend that collects while the friend that brought me claimed the greens and cobalt glass. They are all so beautiful! I included a 100 yen piece, about the size of an American quarter, so you can see just how sizable some of the pieces can be.
As for my share, I haven't decided what to do with them... more ideas soon! In the mean time, look at this gorgeous piece of driftwood. Wouldn't it make a fantastic piece of furniture? Too heavy to even move but just stunning!
images by me, please credit, thanks!
what a gorgeous beach! So strange with that old boat wrecked there. The seaglass is great. When I was a kid we had a family house (since sold) in cape may new jersey. Cape may is 'famous' for their sea glass and we kids would go out and would get $5 a bucket from a local artisan/merchant. It would take ALL day to collect but we EARNED that $5!
The japanese coin is really pretty!
Those decaying hulks look really evocative. What a great background for collecting the jewel-like sea glass. We used to find the glass on the shores of Lake Erie; I remember the excitement of coming across highly colored pieces, such as cobalt blue, but for me the ultimate prize was the rare ruby-red piece.
--Road to Parnassus
Hi, Ann - Wow...lucky you! I love old seaglass. I think their colors work wonderfully with the Swedish decor. Perhaps you can display them in a simple white bowl on a coffee table? The Japanese potters make sure beautiful ceramic and pottery pieces: simple and organic.....and glazes with great depth. Thanks for sharing a bit of Japan with us :-)
Cheers,
Loi
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