Inventing and imagining lives, storytelling artist Jacqui Wise takes found objects and transforms them into keepsakes, deeply flavoured with past, present, and future. Born in London, Wise makes use of the rich history afforded by the River Thames, undertaking mudlarking expeditions that mirror a childhood of fossil hunting and beachcombing.

Painting lost treasures, transplanting motifs, and making mosaics of sorts from objects lost to time, Wise’s collection is both a step back in history, and forward into a creative world. Tiny boots once worn by toys, a clay pipe, pottery shards, beads, marbles, and sea-softened glass all pop up on flat-lays, designed to decoratively display the shore-line finds.

But for us the true treasure is found in her hand-painted tiles. Patterns, colours, scenes, and shapes lifted from fragments party together, sometimes with textured details that replicate fabulous finds, giving new life to these curious pieces.

Jacqui Wise (Etsy)
Jacqui Wise (Instagram)

A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, Feburary 2023.