She was a young girl, wandering with her jam jar, which her grandfather added a handle to, and her family.

The Aboriginal elder was collecting shells for her mother Dulcie Greeno to make necklaces.

It’s a tradition that has passed on through generations for thousands of years.

Greeno mentored her daughter in the first Arts Tasmania Shell Residency Program in 2002.

And Grace has continued to share her knowledge with younger generations so the practice will continue into the future.

“We can’t lose it,” she said.

The knowledge goes beyond how to string the shells onto what was traditionally sinew from the tail of a kangaroo – now it is cotton thread.

Each shell – predominantly maireener shells - was collected alive and individually.

“You get a better finish and they last a longer time,” Grace said.

If they were collected from the tideline, they could be too brittle from exposure to the elements, she said.

“Then you have to let nature take its course.”

That meant leaving the shells for eight to 12 weeks to allow the insides to be cleaned out by ants and fish before taking off the outside coating with a special solution, she said.

“Years ago, they used fire or coals to take the coating off.”

Now she travels to the Furneaux Islands each year so she collect shells from the coastline.

Once the coating was removed, different colours emerged.

“The green maireener are very rare and hard to find.”

They lived on reeds while the blue shelled-creatures lived on weeds, Grace said.

She created her own necklace and jewellery designs, mixing maireeners with little “rice shells” and “feather shells”.

There was a tinge of sadness when Grace made shell bracelets on Thursday night.

Her mother might have made her last necklace as she approached 95.

However, Grace said she remembered the shared knowledge and dedication Greeno showed to the practice, which she had gifted to her.

“It’s in my blood, I simply love doing it. It’s part of my Aboriginal heritage.”

Collecting, preparing and making jewellery was a skill she was passing on to her 14-year-old granddaughter.

“I hope she will carry on with the tradition,” Grace said.

The necklaces were originally worn to express the importance of the wearer’s role as a leader.

It might be more common to see them adorning other people’s necks now.

However, that meant the practice didn’t disappear, she said.

“Our tradition will live on.”