There seems to be something about this transitional time of the year that has city dwellers pining for the crisp air of the countryside. A seasonal desire to swap box-like balconies for a garden of rust toned landscapes. A dream which, of course, culminates with hunkering down in a cosy cottage while a warming, roaring fire battles against the brisk outdoors.
Artist and designer Jess Wheeler perfectly captures this feeling in her craft. Spending her days in an old cow-barn-turned-studio in West Dorset, here she uses the natural surrounds to inform her creations.
Before a day of fawning over her intricate botanical structures, the first thing Jess does when she arrives to her studio in the morning is “light my wood burner as it’s beginning to get cold,” she tells enki. After moving out of London into a countryside cottage back in 2020, the artist started experimenting with the fallen leaves from an oak tree outside her studio. These then grew into the foundation for a series of lighting designs and her first collection of brass candle sconces, candelabras and chandeliers.
Since starting her creative journey, Jess’ offerings have evolved into larger collections of electrical lighting and decorative objects that add something truly special to an interior. Here we catch up with Jess to find out more about her handcrafted approach, material palette and a very exciting new collaboration that is satisfying our autumnal craving…
What led you to your craft? Can you tell us where it all began?
“I suppose my professional journey started in my early 20s when I was working as a set designer in London and across Europe. It provided an amazing insight into the work of designers, architects and artists, many of whom I still work with today – but it was also precarious work, and I knew that I ultimately wanted to develop a more artistic practice which gave me more freedom to explore materials and making.”
“But my fascination with natural forms and materials started much much earlier. With my siblings I would make stage sets for fairies below our garden hedge as a child – not much changed between then and my set-building days, where my designs often shaded into quite fantastical mossy sculptures.”
Where is your studio based?
“West Dorset, in an old cow barn, in a farmyard surrounded by other makers and designers. The farm is beneath an iron age hill fort and not far from the sea. I’m supported by a few amazing women who are based in our Shropshire studio. Emma, my studio manager, is there; she keeps the cogs turning. We’re so lucky that both of our studios are set in the most extraordinary countryside. It keeps us constantly inspired.”
What does a day in your workshop look like?
“The first thing I do when I arrive in the morning is to light my wood burner, it’s beginning to get cold. While I wait for the studio to warm up, I walk up a nearby hill to call the team in Shropshire. Together we plan what we will be making in our respective workshops. When I’m back in the workshop I set my kettle on the stove and get to work. At the moment we’re focussing on a few big chandelier commissions, which are hanging majestically above me in the rafters right now. I have them on a rope pulley system, like on a ship. Today I lowered the biggest, an 8 ft. long oak branch and have been hand cutting and soldering the leaves onto the frame.”
Can you tell us about the materials you work with?
“I mostly work in bronze, brass and plaster, and I recently started making chandeliers out of iron and brass. During Covid I moved into a freezing cottage in the middle of nowhere and was hellbent on making some candle sconces to warm the place up. This obsession then led me to a local sculptor called Stan who worked in brass. He taught me to solder and I’ve been hooked ever since. I work with a local bronze foundry for the casting of the large pieces. For me the greatest joy comes from cracking a new process and new material. I tend to be drawn to materials that feel classic and work particularly well with the natural materials I’m surrounded and inspired by.”
How did the collaboration with Edward Bulmer come about?
“I’ve always been a real purist when it comes to making my plaster work. I love the raw, pure plaster colour and texture. I was tentative about colouring them as I didn’t want to lose the detail and movement of the natural forms. I tried painting a rhubarb leaf I’d cast with a sample pot of Edward Bulmer Natural Paint and the paint sat so beautifully on the plaster that I had to reach out to him.”
“That led to a day spent in his incredible garden in Herefordshire, talking together about our favourite things to grow and our loving and loathing for certain plants. We spoke about the rich symbolism of the Acanthus leaf. It is one of the oldest recorded decorative motifs, symbolising immortality, the ancient Greeks carved them into corinthian columns. Edward and I liked the idea of casting a real, irregular acanthus leaf – rescuing it from the highly stylised form that it has been subjected to historically.”
What does the making process look like for each light?
“I’ve developed my own process for making moulds directly from leaves. Once I’ve created a satisfactory mould – which is quite a protracted process – I mix up the plaster and pour it into the acanthus leaf mould. This takes a few hours to set, once it’s set I release it from the mould and work on cleaning it up. The acanthus leaf has a complex structure, so cleaning up the edges takes a while. After a week or so, when the plaster is fully dry I can paint them to the colours that people have ordered. I do this in a few layers, finely dabbing the paint on to make sure that none of the detail of the cast is lost.”
Why an acanthus leaf?
“A good leaf to cast is one with lots of texture and movement. Acanthus leaves have wonderful thick veins, these details cast really beautifully. They are steeped in historical symbolism and are rarely seen in their natural form in interiors. We thought it would be interesting to articulate them naturally.”
Was it hard to find the perfect leaf?
“Yes! At the time of making a mould the acanthus was just appearing. I searched high and low, called everyone I knew with a good garden, and came across the perfect plant in a nearby village, outside of someone’s house. I knocked on their door and asked if i could take one, the lovely man who answered said he thought the acanthus was a pest and I could take as many as I liked! A few weeks later they were growing everywhere, such is working with the unpredictability of nature.”
How did you and Edward choose the final paint colours?
“I love the muted colours of autumn. When a garden is starting to hibernate and acer and maples give a surprising deep red. I chose an autumnal palette to reflect the season. I’m always drawn to a rich terracotta colour, ‘Malahide’ is such a deep, warm colour while ‘Olympian green’ has a delicious acidity”
Are you working on any exciting projects at the moment?
“We are working on pieces for an exhibition in a beautiful space in San Francisco at the moment, it will be open at the beginning of November. We’re really excited to meet some of our American clients and show some of our new collection.”
If you could collaborate with anyone else, who would it be?
“I dream of a project with a restaurant or a hotel with a wonderful kitchen garden. I’d love to cast things grown in one place through the seasons and for it to culminate in an exhibition or installation.”
Discover Jess Wheeler’s full collection and more about her collaboration with Edward Bulmer Natural Paint here.
For more Meet the Maker stories on enki, click here.
