CULTURE: West Mayo beachcomber’s stunning jewellery is making a splash

In a time when much we wear, consume and purchase is mass produced, it’s easy for small businesses to drown in a flood of large corporations. However, Westport woman Vicky Gray’s Born from the Sea jewellery business stays afloat thanks to its unique and personal designs.
Vicky creates and produces pieces from her seaside cottage in the beautiful heart of the Wild Atlantic Way, beside Old Head Beach.
Growing up on John’s Row, Westport, Vicky’s Mayo surroundings yielded the idea for her utterly distinct and quirky business, telling The Mayo News that a combination of her children’s shell picking and homesick pandemic stories is where it all began.
“It really changed during lockdown because my brother and his wife were over in Perth, and she was quite homesick, and the likelihood was they wouldn't get home when the flights weren't going, so I was thinking it would be lovely if you could send someone jewellery that had a genuine piece of home, and they could wear it.
“I just kind of looked into it myself, did lots of research and came up with resin, that was the perfect material to make it look like it was still in the sea, but also protect it; and so that's kind of how it was born, in the hopes that I could send it so that other people who were homesick could also gain something from it,” explained the designer.
A time-consuming process that Vicky is involved in from start to finish, she gets help from her family to gather her materials.
“[My family are] not going to be able to go to the beach again, they'll have a hump on their back in a few years. We collect all the shells from the local beaches, there's no particular beach, it's completely tide dependent.

Time consuming
“It's very time consuming. It's really interesting work; everything's done with the top of a toothpick. I add gold leaf and glass glitters to the eco-resin to catch the light, and then I add a little bit of resin dye to just give the illusion of the thing, the seaweed, the starfish,” said Vicky.
The beauty of the brand is that every single piece is unique and one-of-a-kind, even to the point that finding matching pieces for a set can be tricky.
“They're all one of a kind, I could make one for you and your best friend, and you could say they really want the same one, but I can never replicate it, ever.
“The earrings, I think, are particularly the hard ones. You need a small shell, and you need to find a match. I could find a share today, and it could be four weeks before I find the match, it's just a waiting game really.”
The tag line for Born from the Sea is ‘made with love and sea air’, which is something Vicky prides herself on.
“My ethos is that everything that goes into the jewellery has had to be touched by sea air, and that includes any of the pressed flowers. The flowers that I get come from Old Head Woods and the surrounding area.
“A lot of people would think that maybe I've brought them in, but from the collection of the shells right through to the finished piece that I sell, I have collected 100 percent of them on my own,” added Vicky.

Makers’ market
Like many other small businesses across Mayo, Vicky sells her pieces at the makers’ market in Westport.
“It’s a fantastic market, there's so many talented people in there making all different kinds of crafts, but it’s just such a perfect location for all local crafters to showcase their nation. In actual fact, like the regulars that go, like there's some of us that go every week, it's nearly like a small kind of cooperative family,” she commented.
The Westport Makers Market will be back up and running in late November, before hosting a huge Christmas Market in mid-December.
Born from the Sea can also be purchased online via Instagram and Etsy, prices ranging from €15 to €25.
“I really encourage anyone to contact me in regard to if they want a particular shell, a particular colour, a particular shape. I'd like to try to make the product as much to the person's liking as possible, if that's something they wish,” concluded Vicky.