Jo
Jarvis
AIFD

Jo has travelled, studied, employed, and worked with some of the best floral designers in the world. The insight that she has gained from these designers has not only given her a much wider outlook on what is achievable with flowers and plants, but a unique ability to make stunning designs with plants. Jo is every inch a manager of creative concepts, an ideas person, and a natural project manager; prefect for the fl oriculture industry.

Jo recently sold her award winning fl oral business, Earthworks International Designers. Noted as one of the most prolifi c winners of medals in the country, Earthworks staff won three Gold medals and Best in Show along with numerous other medals in the RHS Chelsea Professional Floristry section. The Earthworks staff represented London in the fi nals of the Florist of the Year and Young Florist of the Year Interflora competitions (2002 and 2004) placing each time. Members of staff also represented England in Europe; such was the designer influence that was promoted at Earthworks.

Jo was inducted into the American Institute of Floral Designers in Boston 1992 and presented her first programme in 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia at AIFD national symposium with Nina Sherson AIFD. Jo was also the programme manager for two other AIFD National Symposiums, Nina Sherson AIFD 2001 and Sarah Horne AIFD in 2008 both in Chicago. Continuing her success with AIFD, Jo has been approached to create a programme for the National Symposium to be held in Boston 2010.

Jo was on the winning teams for Interflora at both the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and the Hampton Court Flower Show where the team won Silver and Silver-Gilt medals in 2000. Jo was the creative designer of a fantastic floral display that won a Silver medal at the RHS Hampton Court Flower show 2009.

First and foremost it is nature or the container that influences designs created by Jo, she works on impulse, which is not how it should be, but it works for her. The container and the material speak to her and from this Jo creates her designs.

It was through moving back to England in 1980 and starting a business with her mother, who was an international florist, that Jo caught the floristry bug. Her inquisitive mind and the many questions that she asked in the beginning of her career plus from working behind the scenes at workshops and design shows with some of the top designers in the industry helped her shape her talents and appreciation of the floral world...Graham Audrain and Sue Artus, two of the many talented designers who shared not only their ethos but techniques, skills, talent, and knowledge to a shy but enthusiastic person just starting out in the industry.

Sarah
Horne
AIFD

Sarah Horne AIFD, is an international designer, working most recently in the USA, Canada, France, and Spain as well as widely throughout her native England. She is owner of the award winning Sarah Horne Flowers which has been established since 1980. Sarah is also an industry consultant working for clients such as BBC television, the Flower Council of Holland and Interflora. She is one of just five florists on the FAC advisory panel to the executive of the Interflora British Unit.

Inducted into the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) at the Seattle Symposium in 2005, Sarah has attained two Gold medals, a silver gilt, and a bronze medal for Professional Floristry from the RHS at The Chelsea Flower Show. Her shop has also reached the National finals of the UK Flower Shop of the Year four times (each time that they have entered it).

Sarah has an infectious passion for the floral industry and is a keen advocate of continuous professional development. She is a member of the European design group, Pandora’s Box, and has in recent years attended their training workshops all over Europe, with such esteemed lecturers as Gregor Lersch, Tor Gundersen and Per Benjamin.

Sarah teaches widely throughout Europe and the rest of the world and much of her time is spent on stage demonstrating her design skills to a diverse range of audiences. These range from small intimate groups of flower lovers, to contemporary flower clubs around the country and through to a 1200 strong audience of professional florists at the AIFD National Symposium in Chicago.

One of Sarah’s greatest pleasures is creating intricate bridal designs. This stems from a time when she supplied clients such as Liberty of London and Jenners of Edinburgh with handmade bridal headdresses formed using the silks from bridal gowns. She now uses her intricate techniques to weave fresh flowers and plant material together with delicate crystals and beautiful decorative wirework.

Sarah’s design work has been widely published throughout the UK as well as in countries such as Russia, Spain, and Canada. In 2008 her work was featured in The International Annual of Floral Art.

When asked, Sarah attributes her enthusiasm and passion for all things floral to her late Mum Jenny, who established the business almost 30 years ago with an aspiration to conquer the world!