"Sea Glass Colors Her Life" continued

“Richard came to see my collection and about fell out of his chair,” Beuke laughed, recalling his surprise and delight upon seeing her pile of tangerine-tinted nuggets...

It takes decades of ocean action upon shards or chunks of glass to smooth their rough edges and etch their surfaces, yielding highly prized pieces of sea glass.  The Northwest coast is a fine hunting ground, Beuke said.

“We’re very far north so the tides are very dramatic and that smoothes the glass.  We have a higher pH salt content – salt can hydrate through a piece of glass and alter the surface.  And we have remote, rocky shorelines and the rocks beat up the glass,” Beuke said.

In her sea glass quests, Beuke estimates she’s walked hundreds of miles along beaches and inlets from Canada to Mexico.  After rising at dawn to meet a certain tide at a certain place and beach-combing all day, she may find only two nuggets.  But other days she may hit upon hundreds, bending and stooping to pluck up each glittering sea glass gift.

“It’s all about location,” Beuke said.  “I study areas where all the settlers were.  It’s weird because you’re picking up people’s garbage, but glass has all sorts of stories to tell and it’s fun to think of stories like that.”

It’s a given in the world of sea glass collecting that no two pieces are ever the same, so a challenge Beuke especially enjoys is matching the rarest of the rare – perfectly paired bits of ruby red or orange glass for earrings – and it’s a skill she’s perfected so well that she’s known among sea glass sellers as the “earring lady.”  Despite her years of beachcombing, even she was astounded and thrilled to have found pieces of Japanese painted pottery in the same pattern on different beaches and on different days.  Her “Shipwreck set,” in an identical blue and white pattern, features a six-piece bracelet, pendant and earrings – and yes, she’ll part with it for a price.

Although she’ll not divulge her own sea glass hunting grounds, Beuke is happy to share her enthusiasm and knowledge with other sellers and collectors.  She’s on the board of the newly formed North American Sea Glass Association, made up of professional sea glass collectors, authors, artisans and retailers whose “No. 1 mission is to uphold the integrity and value of pure sea glass.”

Pondering her passion, Beuke said, “I think it’s about the beach and the hunt that propels me.  I grew up on and live on the beach and I’m in my ‘happy place’ there.  Sea glass has added a lot of color to my life both literally and figuratively – it’s created outlets for me for creativity and outlets for places to go.  I love the escape – it’s fun to be able to say I’m working and yet I’m beachcombing."