Behind the gothic jewellery brand is a multidisciplinary artist with an appetite for creative exploration
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Photography by @jerichopatrick
Jená Bhone always has another idea brewing; her creative résumé speaks to an eagerness to explore new possibilities and the courage to pursue them.
The founder of Petals & Poison began her career creating storyboards for Disney alongside painting doll heads at her parents' dining room table. She's since transformed her affection for Victorian antiques into an independent gothic brand specializing in heirloom-quality jewellery, artfully designed teaware and limited-run clothing. Most recently, she's embraced fragrance and tea blending as new creative outlets, adding a new dimension of sensory-led atmospheric storytelling experiences.
Each pursuit offers a new creative challenge, though there's a common thread running through them all: Jená knows how to build a world worth getting lost in.
Since founding Petals & Poison in 2014, she's developed her signature Nu Antiques aesthetic around an appreciation for historical craftsmanship with her designs feeling as though they carry stories of their own.
We caught up with Jená to revisit the early experiments that started it all. She reflects on her adventures in artistic entrepreneurship and offers a glimpse of what might come next for Petals & Poison.
1. Before founding Petals & Poison in 2014, you built an impressive career as a graphic designer and storyboard artist, working with Disney and National Geographic, among many other household names. With an already thriving and prestigious creative career, what ultimately gave you the courage to take a serious leap of faith and chart a new path?
Thank you! It was such a blessing and such a cool experience to work on projects for mega studios! I think I always knew I wanted to work for myself. My sister and I joke that we are “small business nepotism babies” without the money. Our parents were always entrepreneurs and always working on something, so I think it was just in our blood.
Petals & Poison had already started by then, and I was balancing it alongside my graphic design work. But I think the biggest turning point for me was actually doing an internship at a graphic design firm in 2018. I just had this epiphany that I hated working for other people. It made me realize that Petals & Poison wasn’t just something I wanted to do on the side: I really only ever wanted to work for myself. So once that internship was over, I never looked back.
Photography by Jená Bhone (Petals & Poison); “The Painter”, 2009
2. If we could peek through a window in time into the first year of Petals & Poison, what would we find? Looking back, what memories make you smile, and which hard-earned lessons continue to influence your work today?
You would see me sitting at my parents’ dining room table painting on doll heads! That was originally what I did… Then I got interested in creating jewelry and started learning how to utilize clay and metal paints. I did learn how to work with copper as well. I used to make these huge crystal hand mirrors and I really loved making them, but the time and labor was exhausting. I’d love to bring them back now that my business is in a place where I don’t have to be super hands-on with shipping or customer service or all the little tiny time consuming things.
As for lessons, I think the biggest thing I learned was to always work on something new. Never stop creating and coming up with new ideas. Not for the hustle, but for the love of your craft.
Photography by Jená Bhone (Petals & Poison) featuring work from 2009-2012
3. The Petals & Poison aesthetic is so beautifully distinct, and your concept of Nu Antiques speaks directly to our little gothic hearts. In a world of fast fashion and lightning-fast trend cycles, we LOVE the idea of crafting tomorrow’s heirlooms with whispers of inspiration from centuries past. Where did the concept originate, and what makes a piece worthy of becoming an heirloom in your eyes?
Thank you so much! That’s such an honour to hear. Honestly, the concept originated when I would walk into antique stores and just see the craftsmanship. I also think it came from a slight bitterness over how many beautiful buildings and objects have been lost to time and modernization.
I think there was, and is, a desire to bring beauty back into our world, just for the sake of beauty. What makes a piece worthy to me is excellent craftsmanship. I know when I create jewelry, I want to utilize precious metals. It lasts and will look beautiful practically forever if it’s taken care of.
Same with clothing. I like creating extremely small batches of clothing because I believe that clothes should feel like it’s made for you. We are so used to polyesters (which aren’t exactly terrible. The fashion industry is a lot more grey than black and white), however I can do my part by being intentional with the way my pieces are created. I’ll spend a little more money for the details to be even better. An heirloom has to be worth caring about.
Photography by Jená Bhone (Petals & Poison)
4. The Glass Casket collection is a masterclass in dark romance, with each miniature creation beautifully preserved behind glass. What first inspired these designs, and can you walk us through the process of bringing one of these intricate pieces to life?
Ahh! You’re too kind. Thank you. They were inspired quite literally by glass caskets! I was looking at coffins with glass tops, vintage jewelry boxes, intaglio glass, and curio cabinets. I knew I wanted to create my signature hand and candle designs as the first Glass Caskets because they’ve become such an integral part of the Petals & Poison world, and to me, they’re some of the most meaningful and distinctly Victorian symbols within it.
My good friend and illustrator Chloe Tersigni has helped me bring so many of these pieces to life. She understands my ideas and my sketches and helps me perfect them into something my jewelers can actually work from. Usually I’ll text her and be like, “Hi!!! I have an idea!” and she’s always down to help me clean it up and figure out how to make it work.
From there, we finalize the design for my jewelers, and it starts the process of becoming an actual piece. It’s really special seeing something that started as a slightly chaotic idea in my head turn into this tiny, intricate object you can actually hold.
Photography by Jená Bhone (Petals & Poison)
5. You've experimented with an expansive range of materials and techniques in your jewellery designs, from the pearls of the Baroness Collar to intricate enamelwork, glass and gemstones. How do you determine which materials will best bring a design to life? Is there a jewellery-making technique you've been eager to explore next?
I’m always observing fashion from the past. I think my biggest interest besides the Victorian era is just fashion in general. It really is an art form. I like to explore what iconic brands and designers do and dig deep into WHY they made certain choices. I learn so much that way, and it’s always fascinating.
When it comes to materials, I usually start with the story or the feeling of the piece rather than deciding, “I want to make something with pearls,” or, “I want to use enamel.” I think about what the piece is supposed to feel like, what era or reference I’m pulling from, and then what materials will communicate that idea best.
Sometimes a design needs the softness and romance of pearls, while another needs the richness of enamel, glass, or a particular metal. The material should serve the design rather than the other way around.
As for what I’d love to explore next, I really want to start working with precious stones, especially diamonds. I would love to eventually make haute couture-quality jewelry. It’s just so expensive! But c’est la vie. In time.
Photography by Bond & Grace
6. You've brought your signature aesthetic into some incredible partnerships, including officially licensed Interview with the Vampire jewellery and the beautiful brass letter opener accompanying Bond & Grace's Frankenstein Collector's Edition. How does your approach shift when designing within someone else's creative brainchild, especially one with such an established visual identity?
I think the biggest thing is to listen to the guidelines. So far, every team I’ve worked with has genuinely been so gracious and has allowed me to have a ton of creative freedom, which I’m incredibly grateful for.
But, of course, at the end of the day, I want them to be happy and I want to bring their vision to life while still creating something that feels like Petals & Poison. Usually people are pretty happy with the first draft!
I also work closely with Chloe Tersigni on these. Again, she’s a huge part of Petals & Poison, and I truly believe her artistry blends so beautifully with my ideas and sketches. She just gets it.
Photography by Jená Bhone (Petals & Poison)
7. Your fragrance collection has become an entire world of its own, with recent scents like Lucerna Velata, The Somnambulist and the new Phantom of the Ballet. Do you approach developing a fragrance in much the same way as designing a piece of jewellery? We are curious how your creative process translates from something we wear to something we experience through scent.
Yes! I very much do. I think at my core, and above everything else, I’m a storyteller. Everything I create has a story behind it, and the same goes for fragrance. I like to view scent as just another way to experience a story more intimately.
Perfume can simply be made to smell beautiful, but I also think a lot of modern artistic perfumery approaches fragrance almost like conceptual art. It doesn’t necessarily have to be traditionally pleasant: it can be strange, challenging, nostalgic, or just super interesting. I tend to approach my fragrances through the lens of Romanticism instead. I want them to transport you somewhere and make you feel something.
I kind of want my perfumes to match your story, not for you to try to fit the scent.
Photography by Jená Bhone (Petals & Poison)
8. Your digital magazine is a visual feast. The graphics alone are gallery-worthy! With your background in illustration and design, did founding your own publication offer an opportunity to revisit your editorial roots while pushing the boundaries of what a magazine could look like? And perhaps more importantly, might we someday see your artwork available as prints?
Yes, for sure! I don’t think I could ever get rid of my love of graphic design and photo manipulation. It’s always going to be part of my world. I’ve been doing photo manipulation and editorial-style imagery since around 2008, but I’ve actually been working with Photoshop since I was about five years old! My mom and my uncle are also graphic designers, so I was exposed to graphics at a suuuuper early age.
I would love to make a coffee table art book someday. It’s hard though! I’m always making new photos, so I know I’d immediately be like, “Dang, I wish that was in there,” or, “Dang, I wish I got rid of that one.” I think eventually I’ll just have to accept that a book would be a snapshot of one particular era of Petals & Poison; and then maybe I’ll just have to make another one!
Photography by Jená Bhone (Petals & Poison)
9. Twelve years in, you've built Petals & Poison from the ground up, exploring new mediums while preserving such a distinctive aesthetic. Is there a category, collaboration or artistic ambition you're keen to take on next? And can you share anything about what we can look forward to in the near future?
I’d actually love to write a book! I have one in the works that I originally started just for fun, but the more I work on it, the more I think it has the potential to become a really fun, easy-read gothic novel.
I’d especially love to create stories for young adults and younger girls who are starting to venture into slightly more mature literature. Growing up loving gothic literature had such a huge impact on my imagination and my aesthetic from a really early age. Those stories stayed with me and, in a lot of ways, eventually found their way into Petals & Poison.
I think that’s what I’d love to give back. If I can write something that sparks another young person’s imagination the way those stories sparked mine, even if it’s just one person, I would consider that a success.
Lucky for us, Jená's willingness to experiment has given us quite the collection of modern gothic treasures. The instantly recognizable Lucerna Tea Set has found new life as a collection of Mournaments, bringing its signature design to our holiday decor. Her romantic pearl creations have earned a special place in our jewellery boxes, alongside the intricate Glass Caskets and richly coloured enamelwork. This summer, she invited us to wander through Purgatory Gardens, introducing another atmospheric chapter of the Petals & Poison story through fragrance.
And with a gothic novel on the horizon, we're eager to see where Jená's imagination wanders next.
If there's one thing we're taking away from our conversation, it's the encouragement to borrow a little of her creative courage. Try the unfamiliar. Follow that curious little idea you've been entertaining. Take a chance on something you've never done before. There might be something pretty special waiting just outside your comfort zone.
Follow Petals & Poison on Instagram to explore Jená's ever-evolving creative world and discover what her imagination dreams up next, then subscribe below to receive our free monthly digital issue, where conversations like this continue to unfold.
