‘A Flower Blossoms for its own joy’ - Oscar Wilde.
I called this collection ‘A Flower Blossoms for its own joy.’ A quote from Oscar Wilde, that is believed to mean you find happiness and fulfilment, within oneself without care of what others think. Just like a flower blossoms for its own joy and beauty and not for the benefit of others.
These necklaces have been inspired by the interpretations of flowers in the Victorian era. The Victorians were true romantics. There is so much symbolism and romanticism in their jewellery which is something I have always been inspired by. I absolutely love flowers. Nothing cheers me up more than seeing them bloom, being gifted a bunch or gifting others. I have been using them a lot in my jewellery in the last year or so, particularly looking at floral artists as well as a lot of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts.
I found a book on the way Victorians interpreted flowers. It got me looking into the history of a certain few flowers and I was so fascinated by the origins of some of them and how they were used in the Victorian times. ‘The Victorian era was the great age of the flower garden and of all things horticultural. So it is not surprising that flower symbolism became particularly elaborate in at this time. At the heart of the Victorians love of flowers was their strong and direct connection with nature, much more so and in quite a different way than our connection today.’
Although there is no evidence the Victorians were sending coded bouquets as such, they did use them in everyday life, much more so than today. This was shown in the form of love tokens, worn in the hair, tucked in a bodice, major occasions in life and within literature and art there is so much flower symbolism. With the book as a starting point, I inevitably ended up down a rabbit hole of painters, writers, botanists, travellers, greek mythology and so much more…. But I had to give myself some limits in which to design! All were so rich with history and so fascinating.
I picked a few of my favourite flowers, where the meaning and history resonated or interested me. I wanted to create pieces with thoughtful and positive meanings, little emblems you could wear everyday in the knowledge that they were used and worn with such intent hundreds of years ago.
These pieces are more sculptural as I sculpted the flowers in wax. I have absolutely loved making and researching them and I really hope they bring you a source of joy and meaning that you can carry around with you.
