Seaglass and silver jewellery handmade from beachcombed Llangrannog shells, pebbles, sand and sea-tumbled glass.
I am Kat, a surfer, writer and jewellery-maker who lives five minutes from Llangrannog beach in West Wales. I spend as much time on the beach as possible, hunting for seaglass, pretty pebbles, shells and other washed-up wonders. I also spend a lot of time in the water surfing, paddle-boarding, swimming and sailing. When I was younger, the local surfers called me Surfer Girl because I was the only female surfing, and it has stuck for over 20 years…
Sharing my passion for the ocean playground and the wonderful marine life it supports runs through everything I do, from surfing to jewellery-making.
I started making jewellery because I wanted to wear pieces that reflected my interests, used the beautiful things I had collected over the years, and tied into the Welsh landscape and culture that I love.
Simple shell pendants turned into more complex pieces, and after some lessons with the wonderful Rose Wood I began to get more into silversmithing. http://www.rose-wood-jewellery.co.uk
A village market allowed me to sell some of my wares – I realised there was no way I could keep everything I made! When the market closed down, a group of enterprising local women set up the Sea & Slate Gallery – Oriel Mor a Mynydd, which we run as a collective. You can see some of my work on the S&S website and visit us in the Gallery, but do check the opening times out of season. My studio is based a five-minute walk up the hill from the Gallery.
Seaglass is sand-tumbled, wave-tossed pieces of glass, discarded then made beautiful by Mother Ocean. Some pieces can be very old. Emerald green and rare cobalt blue are my favourites; sea-foam green (often from old Coke bottles) reminds me of winter storms in the bay. Each piece is totally unique, and I let their shapes and colours dictate what they will be made into.
If you have collected your own special pieces, I can turn them into something that will forever remind you of your time in Llangrannog. I can often suggest the ideal present for a difficult-to-buy-for loved one!
The Carreg Bica range is inspired by the guardian rock of Llangrannog Bay, known as the sore tooth that the Devil ripped out and threw down. I make silver pendants with Carreg Bica etched into them, and rings and bracelets with the co-ordinates of the beach stamped around them.
I love turning trash into treasure, and complement the natural materials I find on the beach with eco-silver, which is recycled and scrap silver certified as high quality. I also melt down and re-use my off-cuts, helping to keep waste to a minimum.
Some chains and charms are sourced from my annual visits to Moroccan souks’ jewellery quarters. I cannot resist the tiny, sparkly shops crammed with things new and vintage that you could never find in the UK!
