Rachel White

Born in Dorset, and a lifelong beachcomber, I’ve always collected (and treasured) beach-found objects. Years ago I felt increasingly drawn to the notion of creating art from the many small finds discovered along the local coastline. Inside my Weymouth studio, assemblage artworks began to form: typically driftwood art intricately interwoven with shells, sea glass and other ephemera evoking the coastal environment. Since 2011 assemblage art has been my signature style. Six years ago, discovering the medium of ‘ghost net’ – man-made fishing net salvage – I began designing pieces of salvage art. This merged perfectly with my other lifelong passions of recycling, sustainability and the natural environment. One of my recycled creations was shown on national television in 2021 and 2022, in the studio kitchen of ITV’s ‘Ainsley’s Good Mood Food’. Others have featured in various national and international publications and at the ADEX exhibition in Singapore, and my ghost net mirrors are purchased worldwide. Every piece of salvage art sold donates 10% to our local nonprofit marine litter combat team, Weymouth & Portland Marine Litter Project CIC, who work tirelessly to remove – and where possible, recycle – the daily tides of marine litter washing in along our beautiful stretch of coast. This year I’m also sponsoring their regular beach cleans along shores of the Fleet lagoon. If you’re interested in seeing more of my driftwood art / salvage art designs, my Instagram account @driftwoodfish has probably the widest range of images. Thank you for supporting my work. ♻