Mary Jane Vaughan certainly knows how to create drama in her beautiful designs. She fully appreciates the impact achieved by the sheer abundance of one type of flower and the repetition of simple designs.
The inspiration for her three exquisite British Flowers Week creations was found in the work of her favourite British architect, Dame Zaha Hadid OBE. Hadid’s bold, undulating designs combine geometry with femininity and nature, which is what Mary Jane also strives to do in her work.
She says: “I’m a huge fan of Hadid. She designed the London Olympics Aquatic Centre. I managed to get tickets to see it and I was so excited to be under her roof. So, to be able to create something inspired by her work means a lot to me, because I think she was an amazing, incredible talent. All her shapes are so fluid, organic and asymmetrical. They’re very bold and very brave. There’s so much that I love about them.”
Showstopper Design | Curved Floral Chandelier
Glossy laurel leaves were pinned with precision care into a specially commissioned 6 ft long curved metal frame for the showstopper design, a floral chandelier. A layer of sphagnum moss covered the metal framework and German pins were used to hold the overlapping foliage in place.
Five hundred beautifully scented white stocks in differing lengths, attached by individual delicate wires, hang from the underside of the suspended structure.
Technical Design | Sculptural Necklace
Hadid’s designs were often inspired by the movement of water. So Mary Jane chose to make a fluid-shaped asymmetrical necklace. An intricate wired design, it features lilac sweet peas, blue cornflowers, white stocks, pale pink antirrhinums, alchemilla mollis, ferns and a single peony.
Signature Design | Aqueous Vase
Inspired by Hadid’s Visio crystal vase, Mary Jane designed two slender curved vases. Shiny laurel leaves have been attached to the papier-mâché designs, which are complemented with a profusion of delicate, pastel purple sweet peas.
Mary Jane Vaughan | www.maryjanevaughan.co.uk
Instagram: @maryjanevaughan