As a Dorset-based creative, Jess Wheeler finds inspiration right outside her door. Her designs, cast in glossy brass and plaster, seem to have grown from the land, conjuring a luxe take on nature. Here the magical maker shares the buys catching here eye…

Nature Girl

### A Note From Jess
I live in a cottage in Dorset and my workshop is in an old cow barn not too far away – both buildings have no straight lines in sight. I have always been drawn to the wobbly and handmade, and the things I surround myself with both at home and in my workshop are incredibly important. They must spark joy, have a story or inspire me; piles of books, pencils, tape measures and secateurs are always within reach. Plants and delicious smells are also key to my home, and these come together in my collection of scented pelargoniums, which occupy every windowsill.

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I’ve included a piece from my most recent collection in my shelfie wishlist – a bronze bowl I cast from life using a homegrown rhubarb leaf. This is the perfect vessel for your most treasured possessions, and I love the way it chimes as you drop your keys or jewellery into it. I make pieces I want to live with for a long time and mix them in my home alongside the work of other artists, designers and friends, all of whom bring together beauty and functionality in what they make.

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Wheel thrown in red stoneware clay, hand-painted in porcelain slip. Glaze fired to 1240°C. Aged brass fittings, bayonet fitting, three chord flex and UK 3 pin plug, fully PAT tested.

Large lamp base

Beautiful hand-made Murano mosaic glasses in venetian blown glass with murrina millefiori. Please note all glasses are unique, if you would like to purchase a specific colour or pattern please email online@alexeagle.com. If bought in sets we will ensure to send a variety of colours and patterns.

Murano regular mosaic glass tumber

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A weighty, brushed nickel pepper mill with a soft, matt finish which can also be used as a spice grinder. It has a fully adjustable, steel grinding mechanism making it one of the sturdiest mills on the market. Unlike most pepper mills, the steel grinding mechanism doesn't just crack the pepper corns but actually grinds them too for maximum flavour and aroma. The nut on top can be used to adjust the grind to suit, from fine to course. It is simple to refill using the spout on the side to load the peppercorns or spices, meaning there are no fiddly parts to drop or lose. All the inner components are handmade using hardened steel.

Brushed nickel pepper mill

ISHKAR is pleased to unveil its latest designer collaboration, working with Boris de Beijer on a capsule collection of whimsical glassware handblown in Afghanistan. The two-tone desert coupe features a green fluted top and lapis stem. It can be used for champagne and other drinks, as well as for ice cream and desserts.

Dessert coupe in green and lapis glass

Craft is at the very heart of British identity, from stained-glass windows in country churches to the Enid Blyton charm of thatched houses; from Harris Tweed (R) (famously poached by Coco Chanel) to the ceremonial livery worn by horses at Buckingham Palace. The burgeoning of digital craftsmanship is also enriching ground-breaking technologies, including microbial weaving and bespoke-made vessels for growing human tissue.

Craft Britain: Why Making Matters hardback book

Plaster tulip petals, with a ring on the back for optional hanging.

Decorative plaster tulip petal

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Great value drop-forged carbon steel secateurs, with a nice soft spring action and the simple lock catch at the bottom - learn to open the catch with your little finger. An excellent introduction to the world of Japanese secateurs, but not as hard wearing as our GR Pro range. Perfect for light garden pruning - if you’re planning all day binges, take a look at the GR Pros for something with a bit more clout.

Sentei secateurs

This tool carrier is manufactured in Japan from heavy duty canvas woven in Okayama prefecture. Robustly constructed with taped seams and riveted handles, this tote is ideal for storing and carrying tools, with it's multitude of pockets both inside and out.

Japanese tool carrier in navy

Miranda Berrow is a self-taught ceramicist and artist who creates her unique pieces by hand from her studio in Dorset. This tall, ribbed ceramic lamp base is a striking statement piece and will set the mood in any home, with its unique beauty and striking colours. Each base has been sculpted completely by hand, before being painted and hand dipped in a stylish glaze.

Ceramic lamp base

Made after reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This ring is about connecting with the old ways, weaving in three strands, the past, present and future.

Sweetgrass Braid ring

Grow, Cook, Dye, Wear... From Seed to Style the Sustainable Way. Live sustainably with style - grow fruits and vegetables, cook them, create natural dyes, then make your own clothes with five full-size pattern sheets. Focused around five crops (blackberry, nettle, onion, red cabbage, and rhubarb) that can be foraged or grown in an allotment, planter, or container, Bella Gonshorovitz - fashion designer, dressmaker, and writer - shows you how to embrace a holistic garden-to-garment lifestyle.

Grow, Cook, Dye, Wear book

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Choosing Keeping presents seven exclusive, special editions of 8 shades of Gansai. This Japanese alternative to standard European watercolours is not dissimilar to gouache and is made by a 100 year old paint maker in Japan. The paints can be used directly out of the box with a wet paintbrush - either thinly in translucent washes, or by layering for a bolder effect. These can also be used on darker paper bases to enhance colours further.

Retro Watercolour Set, 1920's

Orange lacquered turned lamp base

A must for your dinner table. These pure beeswax candles burn brighter and longer and cleaner than any other candle. They give a lovely warm light that you only get from beeswax.

Welsh pure beeswax tapered candles (set of 2)

Metric 2m tape measure

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This shell was found on a beach in Wales, alongside a second smaller one, that I made into a pendant. This one suggested a box lid and needed extravagance to compliment its beauty. The box shape follows the contour of the shell and I wanted a sense of organic forms emerging from it - perhaps fish eggs, shrimp legs and there are pearl and barnacles that have attached themselves to the lid.

Pink shell box

Made from terracotta, the Herbarium candle vessel is fired in an English pottery and poured with fragranced wax. After burning the candle, the vessel can be repurposed as a vase for flowers or a decorative receptacle.

Herbarium candle in terracotta vessel

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SIGNED on the title page by Fergus and Trevor themselves. The Book of St. JOHN by the inimitable Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver includes over 120 joyous recipes, (almost all never-before published) from their world-famous restaurant.

The Book Of St. John – signed edition

Handbuilt, terracotta saltbox decorated with white slip and sgraffito, glazed with washy colours in straw, sap and peat, with a hinged lid made from London plane, a tree grown and felled in the capital. Traditionally a symbol of a well-run and comfortable home, the 1690 Saltbox is decorated with mythical and woodland creatures, inspired by ancient Greek black figure ware, Renaissance ivory inlay motifs, 19th century Swedish ceramics and 20th century printed textiles.

1690 saltbox

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A bronze bowl cast from life. Limited edition of 20. Rhubarb grows from a bright pink knuckle in the wintered soil, slowly at first and then with increasing luxuriance, announcing the new Spring. As children, our Granny would take my siblings and me to her rhubarb patch, whose leaves towered over us like fairytale parasols, to collect the bright pink stems, cook them, pickle them, share with each other.

Bronze rhubarb bowl

Large grey green soft downy leaves. Lovely peppermint scent. Masses of small, white flowers. I grow this in my own garden every year in two very large containers or rather, it grows itself!

Tomentosum

This small painted steel watering can is just the thing for keeping houseplants healthy. Its narrow spout ensures that water is directed where you want it.

Indoor watering can

Melograno in Scented Terracotta: one of the symbols of Santa Maria Novella. Crafted and refined by hand, it takes the shape of the pomegranate fruit while enveloping it with the unmistakable fragrance of Melograno Eau de Cologne. Ø 9,5 cm