SPOTLIGHT ON CLAUDIA ROSE

Henley-based Events Florist Claudia Rose, aka Just Joey on The Moon, creates elegantly wild floral displays, Christmas wreaths and more. We talk Kate Moss photoshoots, floral storytelling, and how not to lose your creative nerve…

Tell us about your background and your work?

I left school wanting to be Prime Minister. And I left uni dreaming of going to Drama School. Alas, neither happened!

Instead, I spent 11years working in creative advertising agencies and travelling all over the world, working with amazing brands and extraordinary people.  Shooting Kate Moss with Rankin, being swiftly removed from a riot in Pakistan and working with cyber-hackers in Moscow were in equal measures all career highlights!

What made you decide to start your creative business?

Throughout my advertising career I always had my own wedding planning company called Beattie Bailey; which I still run today with my wonderful business partner Jemma. It was through this that I realised my burning passion to work with flowers. 

When I started planning my own wedding I struggled to find a florist who would design-and-style as well as just arrange beautiful displays. I was desperate to tell our little personal stories and fond memories through the flower creations and as such, Just Joey on the Moon was born.

I'll always wear a few career hats, I love brands and flowers in such equal measures.

What have been the highs and lows so far?

My highs definitely come from responding to client briefs. I spend (a little too long perhaps!) designing beautiful floral proposals that interpret the stories they want to tell and visualising how the flowers, props, ribbons and candles will all come together. I just love it.

And the lows... are the knock backs. I would love to work more with sympathy and funeral flowers and I feel really passionately about it. It is such a private time when beautiful, personally designed flowers can bring momentary peace. It's not a time for transactional, cookie-cutter flowers and it makes me sad that the options are so limited. However, lots of the Funeral Directors have long-term established relationships with florists and it’s almost impossible to penetrate.

Where do you find inspiration?

From brands and the ways they communicate. Its baked into me! Little boutique brands to huge global behemoths. From interiors and fashion. Both industries are so fast at innovating – it’s amazing. And from the stories my clients tell me about themselves, that’s always the springboard for what I create.

How would you describe your style?

I like to think of my style as Elegantly Wild. I'm not really a symmetrical sort of creative. Trailing foliage, creeping roses and little bouncing blooms is much more my thing! I was trained to be expressive rather than by the theory of stem counts and numbers, and whilst it's not a style that everyone loves, it's where I feel I create my most beautiful work. 

Best nugget of wisdom?

Believe in yourself (and it's something I am dreadful at). The pressure of social media, the air-brushed picture-perfect world we live in and a culture of freebies doesn't make it very easy. But the problem is... it curbs your creativity when you lose your nerve. Sometimes I have to have a word with myself or indeed a large gin and tonic! 

How can people find out more?

Find my work on my website www.justjoeyonthemoon.com and Instagram for a peek behind the scenes.