For many years, Jane Wolff poured her energy into designing and creating bridal dresses. Now, she has made a shift, focusing on her love of art and floral preservation.
“I have always been an artist. From the day I could hold a crayon, it was the most natural thing for me in the world,” says Jane. “As I got older, I was drawn to florals, birds and nature. There is a romance to flowers – their fleeting beauty, and the process of aging in which I find such deep romance.”
Jane was drawn to bridal design because of the personalised nature of the industry. “I got into fashion because it was a practical place to be creative,” she explains. “For anyone who is artistically minded, the wedding industry can be a wonderful place to be because your artwork and unique vision is celebrated.”
Although she loved creating wedding gowns and the opportunity the work gave her to create something special and individual, she found herself craving more ways to express her creativity. She started creating artworks at home after work.
“I love texture, floral abstracts, dried and pressed flowers – the creative mess that slowly transforms, like a puzzle and into something beautiful,” she says. After becoming a mom six years ago, she found herself leaning more into art as a healing space and found deep satisfaction in exploring and playing. The pressure and intensity of the wedding industry caused her considerable stress, and she eventually made the decision to change her path.
Although she has left the world of wedding gowns behind, she hasn’t said goodbye to weddings altogether. Among her offerings as an artist are preserved bridal bouquets. “There is a significance to the bouquet,” she says. “It represents the merging of worlds before the marriage and after the wedding; the blooming beauty of the bride in that exact moment in time; and of course, it is also incredibly pretty. Heirloom pieces are such a big part of the wedding day and to be able to look back and remember the moment you really began your journey in front of all of your friends and family is very special.”
Although there are a number of ways to preserve a bouquet, Jane prefers the natural process of allowing flowers to age gracefully. Once she receives a bouquet, there is a short window in which she can prepare the flowers by removing any excess petals, stems or leaves. She uses a silica gel to dry the flowers out, sometimes using a press to flatten them. Once the flowers come out of the gel (some weeks later), she figures out how to arrange them. “At this point, the bouquet will take its own journey and I put the pieces back together in a way that works for the new look of the flowers,” she explains.
It’s important to understand that, over time, all flowers will age and change, but for Jane this is part of the magic of the process. “I love that the preserved flowers are different from what they looked like on the wedding day,” she says. “To me it adds a romance, having been carried down an aisle, and loved by the bride.”
Details: www.janewolff.co.za; [email protected]; IG: @jane_wolff_art
Photographs: Jane Wolff
