Austin, Texas · Est. 2016

Handcrafted mosaics shaped by Africa.

Each piece is set one tile at a time by Janet Girdwood-Naddell, a self-taught artist born and raised in South Africa. The animals, colors, and rhythms of home, reassembled in glass, ceramic, and stone.

Shop finished pieces → Commission custom work
Handmade mosaic wall clock featuring two elephants beneath an acacia tree, in pastel mosaic tile with gold grout One of a kind
Glass • Ceramic • Stone Indoor • Outdoor • Pool & patio Ships worldwide from Austin
What Janet makes

Three ways to bring a piece home.

From finished plates on her studio wall to architectural installations in your pool, every piece starts with the same question: what story should this tell?

Round mosaic wall plate featuring three elephant silhouettes on a vivid red tessera background

Safari Collection

Round wall plates featuring the animals of the African bush: elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions, buffalo, springbok. Hand-cut glass on ceramic.

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Tall octagonal mosaic vessel in cobalt, sapphire, mirror, and white glass tesserae

Vessels & Home

Vases, planters, clocks, and sculptural pieces. Functional mosaics for tables, mantels, and entryways, finished with the same detail as the wall work.

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Custom mosaic panels installed in a space beside a pool, featuring koi, turtles, and tropical fish in blue glass tile

Custom Commissions

Pools, fountains, fireplaces, backsplashes, and pet and memorial portraits. If you can picture it, Janet can build it in tile.

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Janet Girdwood-Naddell at her Austin studio worktable, surrounded by finished mosaic plates, clocks, and planters
The maker

Born in South Africa. Making in Austin.

Janet grew up with the colors of the veld: the ochre of dry grass, the blue-grey of morning mist over the Drakensberg, the deep copper of a Karoo sunset. She taught herself mosaic by watching, reading, and breaking things, then putting them back together.

Every piece she makes carries a small piece of that landscape: an elephant silhouette against a burnt sky, a rhino seen through acacia, or a poolside panel of koi and turtles set tile by tile into a custom space beside the water.

She works slowly, by hand, with no templates and no shortcuts. A single plate can take a week. A pool can take months. Each one is signed on the back.

Read Janet's story →
– Janet Girdwood-Naddell
Recent work

A few pieces from the studio.

Tap any image to see it larger. The full archive lives in the gallery.

Round mosaic wall plate with three black giraffe silhouettes on a teal glass background
Three Giraffes, Teal
 Round mosaic wall plate with three black rhino silhouettes on a turquoise glass background
Three Rhinos, Turquoise
 Round mosaic wall plate with three springbok silhouettes on a soft lavender background
Three Springbok, Lavender
 Round mosaic bowl with three elephants beneath an acacia tree on iridescent blue-and-gold glass
Elephants Beneath an Acacia
 Tall tapered planter in gold hexagonal mosaic with a bumblebee motif, planted with parlor palm
Honeycomb Planter
 Rectangular wooden side table with mosaic top depicting a three-dimensional elephant head in bronze and dark brown glass
Elephant Side Table
See the full gallery →
Custom work

A poolside panel. A fireplace. A portrait in tile.

Janet has built mosaics into poolside spaces, patios, entryways, and fireplaces. Commissions start with a conversation about the space and the story, then move through sketches, materials, and a hand-set build.

Start a commission →
Custom mosaic panels set into a space beside a pool, featuring koi, turtles, and tropical fish in blue glass tile
“I left South Africa a long time ago, but I still carry it with me. Every piece I make is a way to bring a little piece of Africa into someone else's home.”
Janet Girdwood-Naddell