Jewelry That Speaks to the Soul

By Laura Mulrooney

She’s been creating all of her life. She creates jewelry and even creates a space for relaxation and relief as a massage therapist and yoga instructor. She is Lisa Taylor.

Taylor opened her first massage and yoga studio in Gulfport, The Red Elephant Yoga and Massage Studio, April 2019, expanding from her solo massage practice to an all-encompassing therapeutic center.

Massage therapist and yoga instructor Lisa Taylor has been creating all of her life. Most recently she creates jewelry from old family heirlooms.

via Lisa Taylor

Unfortunately, the studio didn’t survive 2020’s COVID-19 shutdown.

With time on her hands and a busy mind, Taylor made beauty out of her quarantine.

Artist Lisa Taylor has been creating and designing for years. After giving up the lease on her yoga and massage studio after the recent COVID-19 shutdown, Taylor was resilient and revisited an old skill – jewelry making. Here, Taylor used her friend’s mother’s baubles to create fashionable earrings.

Lisa Taylor

Taylor had inherited a collection of her mother’s things, mostly costume jewelry, and stumbled upon them during her quarantine clean out.

“I was going through and clearing out a few things and ran into my mom’s old jewelry,” explained Taylor. “I’d wanted a pearl mala necklace for years, so I did it.”

Taylor’s creations turned sentimental pieces into wearable art.

Most recently, artist Lisa Taylor dismantled her mother’s pearl necklace –a style Taylor would never wear – and created a mala necklace. To make a mala, the creator must tie a knot in between each bead to protect the bead, malas generally have 108 beads. When Taylor makes her malas she speaks “a positive intention into each bead to bring the wearer that energy. Malas are a spiritual tool, much like a rosary,” explained Taylor.

Lisa Taylor

“I thought others might like to wear their family jewelry in a new way,” continued Taylor, “that speaks to their soul.”

Taylor has created earrings from baubles and is looking to revive sentimental jewelry for others.

For more information, contact Taylor at 727-687-6505 or lisacoxlmt@gmail.com.