Hi I’m Natasha Cocking. I was lucky enough to grow up a few minutes’ walk from the beach on the rugged North coast of Cornwall. As a child I spent a great deal of time outdoors and would always look for glass pebbles whenever I was at the coast - which was most of the time! I remember loving the smooth cold feeling of holding them in my hand.
After being made redundant in 2022, I had more time to walk on the beaches of the South coast of England. Whist some have very little glass, the pieces I found became my treasures. Seeking out sea glass has become my favourite way to relax and connect with nature. I’ve visited some wonderful beaches- its rare for me to have a pocket or a bag without at least one stray piece of glass in it these days!
As my collection has grown I found myself wondering what to do with it and was drawn towards the idea of making silver Jewellery, which I hope can give other people as much pleasure as its given me.
What is sea glass? - Its basically rubbish; discarded glass bottles and vases, TV glass, Safety Glass, left overs from glass manufacturing. Much of it is well over 100 years old. The most prized pieces have been tumbled in the sea over time and are well rounded and smooth to the touch with a frosted appearance. As you would expect some colours are rarer than others and these are particularly desirable such as reds and blues. There are even multi coloured pieces from an old glass factory in the northeast town of Seaham which has become world famous for its seaglass. Much of my glass comes from Seaham and when you look at my shop you will see that I often name the beach where I collected it.
