FRANCES BROWN - SURREY — The Freelance Florist

FRANCES BROWN
SURREY

A BIT ABOUT ME

I enjoy writing, sketching and walks by the sea; moroccan interiors and gardens; creative, illustrated garden/lifestyle non-fiction, and botanical prints which I collect, along with jugs, containers, baskets and props for making and styling. I write picture books and middle grade stories for children, not yet published.

Based in Surrey, but very happy to travel outside of this area.

My favourite flower… Rose

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Floristry is a new and developing skill for me. I have recently completed a four-week Career Change course at the Tallulah Rose Flower School in Bath, where we learned several floral arrangement types including large candelabra, small and large urn, funeral coffin sprays and letters, wedding bouquets, flower crowns and top table/mantlepiece, amongst others, using no-foam (my preferred choice), eco-foam, chicken wire, ‘hidden’ vases, moss pins and floral tape. My final pieces in the fourth week were a very large hand-made festive wreath and massive (hula-hoop) hanging chandelier with lights for the Christmas season. The ingredients were Pine, Pistache, Eucalyptus parvifolia, Euc. populus berries, Euc. gunii, Mimosa, Wax flower, blue Eryngium, Ivy berry, Jasmine vine, blue-black Viburnum berries and large lichen-covered twigs. The hula-hoop chandelier was first wrapped in moss and chicken wire; no foam was used.

I have always made my own wreaths and floral arrangements with cuttings and prunings from gardening or walking in the woods. I love making wreath bases with vines from the garden, my favourites being Honeysuckle, Virginia Creeper, Ivy and Clematis. My many years as a gardener, with a diploma in Garden and Planting Design means my experience with plants and flowers is broad. My background is in the Creative Arts, with a Foundation in Art, a career as a Make-up Artist for the BBC, a Btec Level 1 and 2 in FashionTextiles and Dyeing. These all inform my aesthetic and I trust will be assets to future employers. Having completed the Floristry course at the Tallulah Rose Flower School I am ready to work with other florists/creatives and learn as much as I can in this new skill.

PREFERRED TYPE OF FLORISTRY WORK

My style is (not restricted to) wild, nature-inspired, romantic, floriferous and textural. I would love to work on a variety of large arrangements and installations, in street art installations, magazine editorial/set décor, commercial interiors, flower and garden shows, huge flower ‘walls’, wedding/party celebrations, inside and out.