Introducing Kate… the face behind the florals
Floral Designer Kate who also works in TV/Film and Events within the art department, continues to provide floral creations for every occasion working across the UK on large scale installations for prestigious brands such as Rolls Royce and Ralph Lauren (as well as seeing her creations featured on many TV shows).
“Art and design was always my favourite subject at school so it came as no surprise that I would follow a creative path within my career…”
What’s been a career highlight? ‘Wow there’s been so many! I guess these days it’s seeing my work on the television or in print - that buzz of ‘I made that’ never fades. Especially when people save me cut outs of my work from newspapers etc (providing the winners crown for ‘I’m a Celebrity’ saw the floral crown pictured with it’s newly crowned ‘King of the Castle’ everywhere from national newspapers, tv stations and social media outlets).
‘Yes, still now there’s no escaping that’ Kate laughs as we sit down in her ‘Craft Shed’ studio in the rolling hills of the Vale of Clwyd to talk everything floral…
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The once upon a time story of
How it all began…
There’s always a story behind why people get into, well what they get into, as a career and none so true with Kate who has told me she will give me the ‘short version’.
‘I was adamant I wanted a break from studying after finishing my A Levels and just kind of fell into floristry. I’d always loved spending time in the garden but never thought of working with flowers - I say now that flowers are my paint palette as an artist would their paints. I see floral design so much more than just arranging flowers to look pretty. There’s so much engineering behind it - take for example a floral chandelier or arch. There’s thought behind that - how to get it to stand and hold in place, what flowers to best use, how to keep them hydrated…’
After working in a local florist Kate then set up her own florist and gift shop in Rhos on Sea ‘Bella Fiore’ and before that qualified with a HND in Floristry.
‘I loved my florist shop but found I wanted to stretch myself more and ended up going to uni after all’
Kate gained a 2:1 BA in ‘Fashion Branding and Visual Merchandising’ from ‘The London College of Fashion’ and went on to work for Mary Portas (as one of her original team and part of her TV series ‘Mary Queen of Shops’) Selfridges and Ralph Lauren as a visual merchandiser. It was during her time at Ralph Lauren that she saw how valuable and in demand her floristry skills were.
‘I solely thought I would work as a visual merchandiser but when companies found out I had a secret floristry skill they asked me to bring flowers into my work so I did’.
The floristry and visual merchandising eventually lead into tv work and Kate now works on numerous TV productions across the networks from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 to name a few and as well as providing the flowers she also works on set as a dresser and props buyer- bringing interiors and characters to life.
What’s been your favourite production so far? ‘That’s a hard one because they have all been so different. ‘The Responder’ was fascinating working in Police stations and seeing the darker side of the role. Then soaps are good fun because you really get to know the characters - what they would have in their homes, how they would display things etc. However, I have to say ‘I’m a Celebrity’ was a highlight because I got to be so creative. It was an imaginary world that we brought to life from dirtying down chairs and cushions to throwing old books in a certain way to make them look like they had fallen from the floor above. The attention to detail was phenomenal!’.
Kate has also worked in Paris and Normandy assisting on art installations in willow where her floristry skills proved invaluable. Later working in London with floristry teams for ‘Chelsea in Bloom’ and on large scale floral installations for VIPs (think the celeb houses you see adorned with a zillion baubles at Christmas time) and prestigious events including ‘Salon Prive’ at Blenheim Palace (such events and productions often require Kate to sign an NDA).
‘Floristry really pushes the boundaries these days - I’m used to working at height now because installations are so huge!’
Do you get stressed? ‘No I’m good under pressure. I know what needs doing and just get on with it even if that means working 12+ hours, 7 days a week (which often it does) plus it helps that I LOVE it and feel so lucky to have such a varied career from floral architecture, to tv work, events and workshops (even children’s craft clubs!).
Kate likes to hold floristry workshops when she can from Christmas wreath workshops to Easter baskets and everything in between (time allowing in her hectic work schedule) so if you would like to pick her brains and learn more keep an eye out for more dates coming soon!
So where does Kate see herself in 5 years time? ‘I’m very very lucky where I am now and that’s because of a lot of hard work but also all the support I have had from everyone who believed in me. I’m looking to work on a film in the future and hopefully some more work abroad. I’m also looking to take on less tv work in the summer to concentrate on weddings.
To view Kate’s other work please visit her work website: katejordan.weebly.com