Meet the Artist~LAKE ERIE BEACH GLASS

HI! I am Jodie Pastor, a wife, a mom, a homeschooler, a business owner, and artist all wrapped up in one.

Lake Erie Beach Glass is where I freely express my artistic side and my love for nature. The jewelry and art I create range from traditional and classical styles to one of a kind, unique, and sometimes "way out there" pieces of art.

My family has dubbed me the "moody maker" because my jewelry and art often reflect a mood or feeling that I am having. One day I sat down and decided to make romantic looking swirls for earwires while on another day I slow fired copper to give it a rose patina, work hardened it, and hammered it for a rougher look!

I grew up in the small town of Spencerville, Ohio and often spent summers on Lake Erie swimming, boating, and of course beachcombing. The draw to the water was always very strong for me and I’ve always found myself with my head down wandering the beaches looking for interesting finds.

It wasn’t until I met my husband Andrew that I started seriously collecting sea glass among other beach found materials. Andrew grew up in the town of Erie, Pennsylvania where we reside now. My family and I enjoy weekly visits to our local beaches where we collect sea glass, melted aluminum, drift wood pieces, stones, and what we like to call, "flotsem and jetsem". Flotsem and Jetsem is the trash that gets left behind carelessly that can hurt our beaches and water. We try to collect as much as possible when we are beachcombing to give a little back to that from which we take.

Together, my family and I make up Lake Erie Beach Glass. We have found everything from Native American trading beads to antique black marbles and fragments of vintage shipwreck lanterns. Part of the intrigue of a sea glass hunt is trying to figure out what the pieces were and where they came from! I enjoy searching through antique dealers looking for example patterns and maker's marks from which a piece could be. I also spend much time researching online and in various libraries and historical societies to further enhance my knowledge of glass history.

I have been collecting glass for over 8 years now widening my area from the western part of Ohio, Pennsylvania and now to the shores of New York state. We have traveled as a family of six to the shores of the Pacific, the Chesapeake, and to the shores of the Atlantic. I’d love to make it to Puerto Rico some day!

My educational history is varied as I have studied fine arts classes at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio along with continued metalsmithing courses in Erie, Pa and in Cleveland Oh. I am currently embarking on a quest to catalogue the unique colors and rarities of glass found within the confines of the shores of Great Lake Erie.

Lake Erie Beach Glass jewelry is displayed at Glass Grower’s Gallery and KADA Gallery in Erie, Pennsylvania and at Pure Art Gallery in the Cayman Islands. I am an active member of The North American Sea Glass Association. I also have jewelry and art listed on eBay and Etsy under lakeeriebeachglass.