Material-led creative rituals for navigating life’s difficult transitions

Shifting States is a creative practice that supports people through change, loss, and uncertainty using ritual, making, and meaning-focused objects.
Grounded in material research and lived experience, the work offers practical ways to steady yourself when life feels unstable.

My name is Katie Taylor, and I am the founder of Shifting States. My work is rooted in a deep conviction that creative practice can offer meaningful support during periods of profound difficulty, a belief shaped by lived experience as well as  professional practice.

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  • "I didn’t expect such a simple process to feel so meaningful. Casting the pewter felt strangely meditative."

  • "There was something powerful about turning raw materials into an object you could hold."

  • “The oak gall ink felt deeply connected to the landscape. It made writing feel intentional.”

  • “It was fascinating to see how something so ancient could be made with such simple ingredients.”

  • “I liked the balance of learning a craft while also reflecting on what the process meant.”

  • “The workshop made me look at everyday materials in a completely different way.”

  • “Making ink from natural materials gave the whole act of drawing and writing a different weight.”

Latest Blog Posts

Blog | Exploring Art, Ritual & Change
Channelling Intuition: Trusting a Deeper Way of Knowing
Channelling Intuition: Trusting a Deeper Way of Knowing
Repair as Remembrance: Mending Socks, Holding Memory
Repair as Remembrance: Mending Socks, Holding Memory
Oak Gall Ink Making on New Year’s Eve
journalling, Ritual
Oak Gall Ink Making on New Year’s Eve
journalling, Ritual
journalling, Ritual
Brokenness and repair
Event
Brokenness and repair
Event
Event
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View fullsize Being creative is not about making a final object... it is a process that helps in that moment. Knitting supported me whilst caring for alcoholic parents... the repetition and rhythm calming my nervous system. Scribbling and sketching helped when
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View fullsize Not every piece of art needs to serve a purpose. Sometimes it just needs to be made. Create because it feels right. art that mends your spirit. art that nurtures hope. art that may seem nonsensical and unapologetic. Every brushstroke, doodle, and
View fullsize Learn a new skill and make yourself a symbolic amulet to carry you through difficult times! I am running a new workshop to cast Freeform pewter amulets in salt, pepper, cloves, thyme and other herbs and spices to imbue each object with symbolic powe
View fullsize Creativity is one way we work with what feels heavy, confusing, or painful and slowly transform it into something that offers clarity, warmth, or relief. Not by denying difficulty. Not through forced optimism. But by giving lived experience somewher