Katy Taylor first stepped foot on the Cape in 2011, and shortly after, she and her husband decided to make Brewster their permanent home. After welcoming children into their lives, Taylor explored new ways to blend her creative background in ceramics into her new reality. Her idea: handcrafted jewelry. Taylor produces her unique jewelry, molded from beachcombing finds, in her ceramics studio—a retrofitted garage, complete with a kiln and multiple workstations.

“Shells are a great metaphor, because we can see how something first comes from the ocean, becomes a home for something, and then it washes up on the shore. It’s this beautiful thing that we can pick up and hold. If you leave it on the shore, it gets tumbled by time; and then the sun and the wind and the waves, turn it into sand, and it goes back into the Earth. It relates to that bigger picture of time and life cycles, and the preciousness of the moment,” Taylor says.

Each piece of jewelry begins as a casual beach find and evolves into a fine piece of jewelry, perfect for any occasion. Taylor creates a plaster mold of the artifact, into which she pours porcelain slip; a viscous clay. After the clay dries, Taylor removes the perfectly molded ceramic replica, cleans up the edges and applies a touch of metallic luster in yellow gold or platinum.

“I can capture the form of a super fragile object, like the shell from a molting baby crab, and transform it into something more durable and permanent,” Taylor remarks. “When we collect shells on our beach walks, they become mementos of that experience. It’s a really powerful thing to have an object that connects us to a special time. When someone chooses a piece of my shell jewelry to wear, we’re making a very personal connection. I love that by doing something that brings me joy, I can bring joy to others.” 

Taylor’s work is currently sold at Trove in Orleans, Upfront in Wellfleet, The Fisherman’s Daughter in Chatham, and Design Works in Yarmouthport. You can preview her work online at katytaylorcapecod.com.