Spotlight Artist: Kelly Abrams
Kelly Abrams and her Mermaid Tides Sea Glass are making great use of the bountiful beach glass to be found on the shores of Lake Erie, around Dunkirk, NY and the Pennsylvania line. Though she only started creating with beach glass in 2015, she already is selling at several stores in Titusville and Franklin, Pennsylvania and online at her Etsy shop, in addition to making appearances at local craft shows.
Abrams loves her beach glass, but also likes to experiment with many other mediums. “I started with drilling and continue using drilled sea glass for most of the jewelry I make. I really enjoy wire wrapping also, but one of my favorite things is using other things from nature in my sea glass designs. This includes shells, driftwood, deer antler, Lake Erie otoliths and sharks’ teeth. I believe that sea glass enhances the beauty of anything and everything!”
Like many sea glass artists, her first beachcombing excursions began as leisurely de-stressing jaunts, and her first sea glass creations were made as gifts for family and friends. Having transitioned from scrapbooking to mason jars crafts to beaded jewelry, to sea glass jewelry, Abrams knows she’s happiest when she has a creative outlet. She calls herself a “country girl with a whimsical flair”, which shows in many of her designs. Asked what her favorite part of sea glass collecting and creating is, Abrams replied, “I love the variety of colors and the chase. No matter how long I collect sea glass there will always be another color goal!”
The future for Abrams looks bright—she has started working with driftwood and woodburning her own designs, and she plans to add molded and patterned precious metal clay to her repertoire in the very near future.
Check out more of Abrams’ Mermaid Tides Sea Glass at www.etsy.com/shop/MermaidTidesSeaGlass
This article appeared in the Glassing Magazine May/June 2018 issue.
