Sea Glass & Driftwood Sculptures
People have been creating sculptures from items they find on beaches for a very long time. Sea glass and driftwood are just two of the many items on beaches which artists use to create unbelievable and breathtaking forms of art. Some artists create sculptures using only sea glass, while others use only driftwood. Still others have combined sea glass and driftwood into beautiful pieces.
Sea Glass Attributes
Old bottles, jars, plates, pottery, cups, dishes, windows and many other items either tossed or lost in the ocean waters are the foundation of the beautiful sea glass you find on beaches. Whether from someone littering or from a ship wreck long ago, various glass items end up on the ocean floor. Over time, the sharp edges of the glass become smooth and rounded due to a combination of the churning ocean waters and the rough sand and shells at the bottom of the ocean floor. Sometimes, sea glass will gain a frosted look from the abrasive sands.
Sea glass comes in a variety of colors, but some colors are rarer than others. The most common colors are white, green and brown since those were the most popular colors for jars and bottles. Some of the harder to find colors include red, orange, lavender and aqua.
Sea Glass Art
Some colors of sea glass are more common than others.
Artists have created many beautiful pieces using sea glass. Some artists and sculptors make sun catchers, while others make Christmas ornaments. Artists will use the sea glass as eyes on animals, use color variations to create shapes in pictures and various other techniques in their sculptures.
Sculptures and other art pieces vary in price depending on how rare the sea glass is that is in the art. Visit some of your local beach shops and see what sea glass art is available. Be wary though; some people try to duplicate sea glass by using tumblers. These glass pieces will not be as smooth or natural looking.
Rarity of Sea Glass
Due to the increased efforts of environmentalists and the arrival of plastics in the bottling industry, the chances of finding sea glass are becoming slimmer each day. Many individuals are tumbling glass to create artificial sea glass, which would otherwise take nature decades to create. Nowadays, a majority of the sea glass enthusiasts are relying on artificial sea glass for their artwork.
Driftwood Attributes
Some driftwood can take on the appearance of an animal.
Driftwood is wood that has fallen into the ocean. This wood, through the currents, waves, beach sand and winds, has been smoothed and shaped to what you find lying on beaches. Driftwood generally has a porous appearance due to effects of nature. This wood does not present a pollution hazard to the environment since it is of the earth and bio-degradable. Some fish and other aquatic animals will use the driftwood that sinks to the bottom of the ocean as shelter.
Driftwood Sculptures
There have been many driftwood sculptures made over the years. The artist Lucile Worlund created a technique called the LuRon method for processing the driftwood into magnificent sculptures. Some artists will choose to carve driftwood into various forms of art, while others will use the driftwood as a base for their sculptures. Artists will choose to leave the pieces of driftwood as natural as possible, using several pieces of wood to create their masterpieces.
Driftwood sculptures are prominent among environmentalist artists as they are biodegradable and are taken from wood that has usually fallen off trees naturally that have died near coasts or have been dragged into oceans due to flooding.
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