ABOUT
Like Jack Kerouac, at United Wanderlust, we believe in climbing “that goddam mountain.” Because “in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working at the office or mowing your lawn.”
THE JOURNEY
Hi there! My name is Patricia Jacques and I paint watercolor illustrations about slow travel, slow food and slow life. I believe “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - Augustine of Hippo
Between 2014 and 2015, I spent the majority of two years "trekking" solo from Bolivia to Guatemala, Japan to Malaysia and Italy to Turkey.
Because of an eclectic multi-disciplinary, applied design and arts background, I soaked up like a sponge the essence of some of the most beautiful places in the world.
In Hanoi, Vietnam, I discovered incredibly elegant original watercolor paintings in the hidden gift store of an ancient King's palace.
Went on a “treasure hunt” in the back alleys of Tokyo, to snag the epically elusive tickets to the Ghibli Museum, in Mitaka, Japan.
Then, hopped on a dirt-cheap flight to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia for a week of total batik art immersion.
There were more adventures and I tried to capture them all in:
- Three sketchbooks full of illustrations,
- Two visual journals,
- A decent number of digital stories on social
- An enormous library of reference travel photos
- and an extensive hand-written, travelogue archive full of quirky notes, deep introspective dives and detailed observations.
This wild journey traipsing around the world originally sparked the idea for United Wanderlust. For me:
From mythology to omeyaki, United Wanderlust is the adventurer's portal to discovering quirky graphic illustrations and ethereal watercolors brimming with warmth and magical realism, inspired from the love of food and travel.
THE ART
It often takes a solid 10 to 30+ hours to create one single original art piece, let alone an entire collection. The incredible atmospheric effects of watercolor and watercolor-based media also often come with some steep challenges.
Watercolor is often both...temperamental and demanding.
Mess up once depending on how transparent the color layers are - and you might have to start the entire painting over - especially if the final visual art created is more realistic art than abstract.
In addition, the prints themselves undergo a separate round of production. This assures that they enhance your rooms with the right kind of drama or, balance them with visual serenity.
In the post production phase, each image is scanned at high resolution and gets cleaned up, edited, enhanced or re-imagined to complement the material it’s printed on.
We use a made-to-order model.
Each design is printed on demand - just for that specific customer.
When a customer places an order, the print production process starts at that exact time. It can be slow-going sometimes as an order may include items we source from a variety of vendors to create the best final piece we can.
Allow two weeks to create the print plus up to 15 days or so for domestic shipping from receiving your email tracking number.
International shipping could take up to eight weeks, outside of Canada and Mexico.
Order your art prints well in advance of an occasion - two to three weeks at minimum- to reduce the potential for a delayed delivery.
I'd love to make United Wanderlust, the central hub for my all creations, a true chronicle for my art and its stories. This means that anything and everything that has to do with my artwork will live there first - and then perhaps shared elsewhere.
While in the online art shop, www.unitedwanderlust.com, I'm sharing a curated collection of artwork and art gifts about slow food and slow travel, my studio practice, Patricia Jacques Illustration, focuses on art licensing, individual commissions, creative projects and commercial illustrations.
WANT MORE?
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As Helen Keller once said, “life is either a DARING adventure or NOTHING at all.”