NASGA’s Meet the Member Interview – Suzanne Hunter – The Sea Glass Grotto

Q: How did you learn about NASGA, and how long have you been a member of the association?

   A:   I heard about NASGA through it’s current President, Kim Hannon, when I participated in one of her events. I have been a member for 2 years as The Sea Glass Grotto.

Q: Can you share your personal sea glass story, or how you discovered and developed a passion for tumbled treasures? 

A:   I started collecting with My grandmother, in North Wildwood New Jersey, in the 1970’s. Our nightly ritual when we were visiting would be to take stale bread to the beach after dinner to feed the birds, and find treasures!

Q: Please tell us about your particular craft or skill, such as tools and techniques, training and experience, and how your product or skill has evolved or changed over time. 

A:  I making wire Jewelry with telephone wire from my father when I was a child, I would wrap stones, and flowers, and make paper beads. I developed my own Silver Smithing skills with the help of many books and advice of other artists, but I am primarily self taught. Learning is a never ending journey.

Q: Are you also a sea glass collector (or do you solely enjoy working on your craft or skill)? If you are a collector, can you tell us about your collection, and is difficult to part with some of your creations or favorite pieces?

A:  I am a collector, and I have many pieces I will never part with, those are special to me because I treasure the memories of my childhood and my grandparents that they evoke. I keep them stashed away in my jewelry box.

Q: Can you share some of the joys and challenges of your business and craft?

A:   The biggest joy and challenge is sharing the difference between real and artificial Sea Glass. It is wonderful to be able to educate people on the differences while also sharing memories, or stories, I feel like beachcombing as a whole is a very personal journey for each individual and I hear many stories about those adventures.

Q: How does your NASGA membership benefit you professionally and/or personally?

A:   I have the backing of a wonderful organization who stands behind it’s artists as being genuine sea glass and handcrafted wares.

 Q: Do you plan to exhibit at the upcoming festival in Wildwood, New Jersey, and is there a particular NASGA festival that stands out as a favorite, or a memorable experience associated with a previous NASGA festival?

A:   I am extremely excited about this year’s festival since it is in my home county. Wildwood, and Cape May County are absolutely wonderful in the fall, with a wide variety of events, wonder dining and fabulous weather, and I am looking forward to “hosting” my fellow NASGA members and sharing some of my favorites!

 

Q: Can you tell us about some of your other interests or hobbies?

A:   Being a mom, most of my favorite hobbies revolve around my kids, but as a family we enjoy beach time, camping and cooking. We are currently in the planning stages of a lengthy cross country trip in our Winnebago.

Q: How can the public learn more about your craft or skill, inquire about your calendar (upcoming exhibits or events), and/or contact you if desired?

A:  I am not as tech savvy as I wish I was so the easiest platforms for me are on Facebook The Sea Glass Grotto and Instagram.

NASGA’s Meet the Member Interview – Don Bernard – PTownTreasures

Q: How did you learn about NASGA, and how long have you been a member of the association?

   A:  I found about NASGA , in 2008, while researching articles about sea glass and joined in 2017 as a Commercial Member as Ptowntreasures.

Q: Can you share your personal sea glass story, or how you discovered and developed a passion for tumbled treasures? 

A:  I had a jar of beach stones in my office when a co-worker saw it and asked why not sea glass. She explained what it was and where I could find it on the beach. Our next vacation turned into a beach glass expedition with the entire family involved. From then on finding beach glass became an obsession that we all still enjoy and have spread that thrill to several friends. It never gets boring and we have a very large collection of glass and pottery collected from the beaches of Cape Cod.

Q: Please tell us about your particular craft or skill, such as tools and techniques, training and experience, and how your product or skill has evolved or changed over time. 

A:  In 2013 our sea glass collection was growing larger with jars and containers full of glass and pottery. My daughter suggested I might look into making jewelry. I had no idea what was involved but thought it might make an interesting hobby, having retired in 2009 after 40 years as an Electronics Engineer. Further research led me to the Worcester MA Center for Crafts and their jewelry fabrication courses with a concentration on metals, i.e., silver, copper, brass. I took all three of the 6 week courses and started making jewelry. We were instructed in soldering, forming metals, making of different jewelry items, hand tools, finishing and polishing. That was in 2013, since then I have set up two studios, one in North Truro MA and the other in my home in Uxbridge MA. My daughter started to take some pieces to work and sold them. I was soon taking orders and set up my shop on Etsy and started to participate in Provincetown MA craft fairs. I have sold over 300 pieces and shipped to many parts of the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. I now fabricate rings, various styles of bracelets, pendants, dangle and stud earrings. What started as a hobby has turned into a small business that I truly enjoy doing.

Q: Are you also a sea glass collector (or do you solely enjoy working on your craft or skill)? If you are a collector, can you tell us about your collection, and is difficult to part with some of your creations or favorite pieces?

A:  We collect for the joy of collecting, searching and of course finding sea glass and pottery. One of the two grandsons has an eye for black glass and has located an area that he goes to to find his treasures. I separate the jewelry quality pieces from the seconds. The exceptionally nice pieces of glass get turned into jewelry which our daughter quickly appropriates for herself. I think I might need a safe to hide them! I mentioned we have converted several friends to searching, one in particular is Ed Drzazga, my friend from the Navy, going back 50 years. He sends us pieces from Lake Erie. He was hooked on sea glass after visiting us in 2014, it has turned into a great way for him to exercise.

Q: Can you share some of the joys and challenges of your business and craft?

A:  That’s a question with a simple answer! The challenge is making pieces that are fun to make and to try and anticipate what our customers want. The joy is when they purchase the items and even more joy when a custom order turns out to be what they had envisioned.

Q: How does your NASGA membership benefit you professionally and/or personally?

A:  My membership allows me to display the NASGA logo and the establish credentials as someone who knows real sea glass from the items sold to unsuspecting individuals. Personally it makes it incumbent on me to research and read as much as possible regarding sea glass.

 Q: Do you plan to exhibit at the upcoming festival in Wildwood, New Jersey, and is there a particular NASGA festival that stands out as a favorite, or a memorable experience associated with a previous NASGA festival?

A:  Unfortunately my current schedule does’t allow me to attend. I have not been to any sea glass festivals.

Q: Can you tell us about some of your other interests or hobbies?

A:  I love to fly kites. I have been doing this for 18 years now. I have approximately 40 kites, single line, dual line and a four line kite. I used to fly in Newport RI and local fields in Uxbridge MA. My place of employment had several fields so myself and a friend flew almost daily, weather permitting. When I retired my staff presented me with a large luna moth kite, only 200 had been made.

Q: How can the public learn more about your craft or skill, inquire about your calendar (upcoming exhibits or events), and/or contact you if desired?

A:  The public can learn a lot by visiting the NASGA website or going to their local library and check out the books dealing with sea glass. I can be contacted via my website www.ptowntreasures.com. I participate weekly in the craft fair in Provincetown MA at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House on Commercial St, every Thursday starting June 21, 2018 until the end of August and at the Truro Treasures craft fair held in September.