Hello Rebels,
Meet my “kickass aunties,” Melda Murphy Arick and Maureen Murphy Renden.
I gave them this moniker, because the world considers them “seniors,” but they have created their own story and have no interest in retiring from their work, passion, or life. Instead, they say, “…we do hope to always be life-long learners in our creative efforts to share the joy and beauty of our faith, family, and the ocean with others!” Read their story here.
Melda and Maureen are sisters (two of the six Murphy siblings) [They are my dad’s sisters, my aunts.]
We both worked in elementary education while raising our own families. Teaching was an amazing career. Education is all about empowering children and instilling the foundation for a love of learning and creativity. Maureen taught kindergarten for almost 40 years. She played the guitar and sang which was an integral part of her daily instruction to inspire her students [You should hear her angelic voice. She sings like Joni Mitchell. Melda was an instructional assistant in a private school, where she worked primarily with second graders. She also had a home business of tole painting for many years. Painting and crafting are Melda’s passion!
Our story is wrapped up in our faith, love of family, the sea, and creativity. We are native Californians and grew up enjoying many happy days at the beach. Our Mom, Marie, loved walking and collecting seashells on the beaches of San Diego.
Our most cherished gifts are those she made us with her shells. Our logo, Marea by the Sea, is the plaque that was by our Mom’s front door welcoming family and friends to her beach house.
Our business of making sea glass jewelry began in 2016, when our niece, Cheryl [my kickass cousin], gave us a large box of sea glass she had collected over many years of walking the beaches in Santa Barbara. We are constantly fascinated as each piece of glass has its’ own story. And we are inspired by nature and the ocean’s ability to recycle and renew broken bits of glass into beautiful pieces of art.
We are blessed to still live by the beach in Southern California and enjoy sea glass hunting, whenever possible. We have planned trips that have taken us to beaches outside of our local area. We are grateful to many friends that have given us sea glass they have found on their travels… some even from Spain and England!
We love working together on Melda’s front porch and coming up with new ideas with the treasures we have from the sea!
We meet new people when we participate in various local boutiques. Sea glass often evokes childhood memories. People love to share these stories of the beach and times past.
This past year, when selling in person was limited, we were challenged to find other ways to market our small business, and we have expanded our technology skills through improving upon our Etsy website, and social media sites (https://www.facebook.com/mareabythesea and https://www.instagram.com/mareabythesea/
We are so proud of the work that Michelle does to empower, heal, and promote women’s strength, wisdom and courage. It is an honor to be a part of her Representation Rebellion website!