Life through a new prism

By Steven Froias

Artist Kathy Clough

Creative people everywhere are adjusting to a new reality during the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, however, the journey to adapt and change with circumstances began even sooner.

Today, Kathy Clough is a glass artist whose work transcends artisanry and reflects true artistry. But how she arrived at that place was improbable and arduous.

She says she doesn’t quite know why she began collecting sea glass off New Bedford beaches back in 2015 – but nonetheless, she was soon filling vases and containers of it in her home.

Clough kept collecting sea glass even as she learned in December 2015 that her mother was suffering from aggressive cancer throughout her body. By the end of January 2016, her mother’s body surrendered and she passed away.

In the intervening month, Clough would slip out of St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford for a walk on the city’s West Beach (where she could still see the hospital) and continue to collect the pieces of glass nature had washed up. It was a solace as well as a respite from the toil her mother’s illness was taking on both her and her father, for whom she was functioning as caregiver.

Clough continued her beach walks through that winter after her mother’s passing. More glass was accumulated. And if you think at this point in the story, while grieving for her mom, she had an artistic epiphany, you’d be wrong. Because before that happened, Kathy Clough saw cancer enter own life.

I have now come to realize that my journey is like that of sea glass – broken, tumbled by the sea, washed to shore, and given a second chance at life

During a routine yearly examination, her doctor discovered a dark area within one of her breasts. It was concerning enough that even though her next mammogram wasn’t scheduled for another three months, she urged Clough to see to it right away.

It was good advice. The area turned out to be a highly aggressive form of ductal carcinoma breast cancer. Though caught early, Clough still had to endure chemotherapy and two surgeries, including a partial mastectomy.

“This group of angry cells,” she says, “caused a little monster to come out of me!”

Something else began to come out of her, too – and that something was much more welcome. It was a spiritual and artistic awakening that finally helped her complete a journey she had already instinctively began.

Kathy began to assess her life and make some changes. A new job came first. Then, she decided to become Reiki 1 certified. And then there was all that sea glass she had accumulated...

Sparkle and shine

“When I started collecting sea glass,” she says, “I didn’t know why I was so obsessed with it. I have now come to realize that my journey is like that of sea glass – broken, tumbled by the sea, washed to shore, and given a second chance at life.”

Transforming heartache into hope, Kathy Clough taught herself to turn that sea glass into works of art. Shy at first, she was encouraged along the way by friends to keep at it and to share it with the world.

She did that at home arts and crafts get-togethers even as she continued to hone her skills and realize her vision. Soon, just as the glass had piled up in her home, now unique creations of skill and beauty began to fill her rooms.

She went from showing her burgeoning inventory at home shows to appearing at pop-up events, and then became a staple at the Acushnet Farmers Market and other South Coast fairs and festivals.

She still offers her work for sale, these days at venues where she feels secure with the safety precautions in place, like the Providence Flea.

Obviously, the pandemic has created another inflection point for this artist – but it’s one she is navigating safely and well.

The Providence Flea is holding its annual holiday market, with 55+ local artists and artisans, makers, vintage vendors and food trucks on Sundays through December from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the all-new COVID-safe Farm Fresh RI Market Hall at 10 Sims Avenue in Providence.

Clough’s work has been commissioned, too, and is in such demand that she now relies on buying sea glass from someone she became friends with through Facebook, who delivers it washed and sorted to her door.

That leaves mornings for her to work and to pursue her vision. She works out of a studio in her home – which naturally has a great view out of the window through which the sun streams in.

The act of creation, she says, is her Zen. And her mission is to assemble sea glass and also agate and crystal in a way that says something while also delivering good energy.

Kathy Clough’s journey was fraught, but she has arrived at a good place. Sometimes, the answer to life’s questions simply wash up on the shore just waiting for someone like Kathy Clough to come along and collect it and breathe renewed life into a wondrous second act.

You can see the artist’s work at Facebook.com/landandseaglassbykathy. Land and SeaGlass is a mixed medium of local SeaGlass, reiki-charged agate and crystals, and ocean-themed framed art and suncatchers.

Steven Froias is a freelance writer based in New Bedford and is a regular -contributor for The South Coast Insider and South Coast Prime Times. He can be reached at NewBedfordNow@gmail.com.