Flotsam and Jetsam is a coastal watercolour by William Geissler (1894–1963), a Scottish artist best known for his finely observed studies of nature. Likely painted at Gullane or Longniddry on the east coast near Edinburgh, the scene shows scattered maritime debris along the shore. The title refers to two distinct types of sea-washed material: "flotsam," the floating remnants of a shipwreck, and "jetsam," items deliberately thrown overboard in an emergency to lighten a ship’s load. In the foreground, tangled seaweed, driftwood, and other marine debris are depicted with fluid black lines and delicate washes of colour while a boat drifts quietly on the dark blue sea in the distance beneath a soft blue sky. A member of the Edinburgh School, Geissler often found quiet poetry in portraying the intricate details of the natural world.

William Geissler, 1896-1963

Born in Edinburgh, Geissler attended evening classes at Edinburgh College of Art while employed as an apprentice draughtsman by the publishers Nelson. After army service in the First World War he enrolled on a full-time course at the college. He was a founder member of the '22 Group, an exhibiting society formed by a group of artists who had left the college in 1922, including William Gillies, William MacTaggart and William Crozier. Awarded a travelling scholarship, Geissler went with Gillies and Crozier to Paris, where the studied with André Lhote. After briefly teaching at Edinburgh College of Art and Perth Academy, he joined Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh in 1935. Geissler painted mainly landscapes, often with Gillies and John Maxwell.