Artist's Projects
Laura Silburn was taught botanical watercolour technique by Mally Francis FLS, at Mally’s studio in Heligan Gardens, Cornwall, where Laura now teaches. Laura is also part of the Eden Project Florilegium Society with many of her works now in the archives there.
Laura has received three prestigious RHS Gold Medals for her botanical artwork, in 2013, 2014 and 2018 and has also received the RHS Best in Show Award (2014) and RHS Best Botanical Painting award (2018).
Laura now has work in the RHS Lindley Library and the Shirley Sherwood collection, which shows at the gallery in Kew Gardens, The Hunt Institute and the Florilegium of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Laura has had work published in the RHS Plantsman, Cornwall Today and Eden Friends magazines.
Laura was invited to travel with a group of artists to Transylvania to study the flora there and has since had seven paintings accepted into the prestigious Transylvania Florilegium. Laura also travelled to South Africa in 2021 as one of a handful of international artists chosen to paint for the Grootbos Florilegium Project documenting the plants of the Fynbos.
Laura teaches extensively in her home county of Cornwall and online, at the Eden Project botanical gardens, the Sawpit Studio in Heligan Gardens, and at other sites across the country. Laura continues to take inspiration from the diverse flora of Cornwall and considers herself lucky to have such a botanical treasure trove to work from.
Laura marries ultra-crisp detail and botanical accuracy with compositions reflecting the richness, character and beauty of the plants she depicts. She uses painstaking dry-brush techniques to meticulously control the rendering of each tiny section of plant material in balance with the harmony of the overall picture.
Using layering and aerial perspective Laura enjoys adding depth to her work without losing its scientific value or clarity. Attempting to capture the habit and character of her subjects she is interested in showing the whole plant in novel ways to explore the boundaries of traditional botanical composition.
