Plastiglomerate, the fossil of the present.

Plastiglomerate is a term that was proposed by Patricia Corcoran, Charles J. Moore and Kelly Jazvac for a stone that contains mixtures of sedimentary grains, and other natural debris (e.g. shells, wood) that is held together by hardened molten plastic. .

A cutting from the National Geographic with one of the first Plastiglomerate stones found on Kamilo Point Beach, Hawaii.

My plastiglomerate samples picked up in Hawaii.

Melted plastic from Kamilo Beach, Hawaii.

Painting from still life – interesting rocks with different materials in them.

For our exhibition pieces Louis Thompson and I developed different ideas on how to represent these strange fossils using traditional glass cane techniques used by Murano glass chandelier makers to create the pieces of discarded fishing rope.

initial sketches for the Plastiglomerate pebbles, encasing pieces of fishing rope.

Louis making glass net ropes (and yes, all that waste went into our subsequent pieces)

Sketchbook collage studies for glass Plastiglomerate pebbles

The final faceted glass rocks contain the representations of cut knots from discarded fishing nets and ‘plastic shards’ etched and enamelled with details taken from found ocean plastic pieces.