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Past News
In an article for the American Society of Botanical Artists Journal in September 2023 I revealed how I became interested in ferns and how the project for the RHS exhibit took shape. To accompany the article I gave an online talk to the American society in November, and hope to attend to give workshops at the 2024 conference in October.
I spent a wonderful week in the beautiful and luxurious surroundings of the Clos Mirabel estate in South-West France for our painting holiday in September 2023. All the participants found it a great place to improve their skills and produced some truly magnificent pieces of art - all with the Pyrenees as a backdrop. I'm hoping to return and will be looking at dates for 2024.
I have been lucky enough to have been all over this spring and summer, giving workshops in Taunton for the South West Society of Botanical Artists, at Birmingham with the Birmingham Society of Botanical Artists and two days in Gloucester with the Gloucester Society of Botanical Illustrators as well as teaching in North Devon at RHS Rosemoor and back in Cornwall with several courses at the Sawpit Studio in the Lost Gardens of Heligan.
I spent a wonderful week in Transylvania at the POD botanical art school in Copsa Mare, experiencing the wonderful wildflowers of the region and teaching in the beautiful studio there.
As usual I had a great time at the Eden Project Florilegium Society stand at the Cornwall Spring Flower show 2023. Thanks to everyone who came along to talk to us about what we do and to everyone who helped sell paintings, prints and cards.
It was a great pleasure to travel to South Africa in September 2022 for the opening of the Hannarie Wenhold Gallery of Botanical Art, housing the Grootbos Florilegium which I had taken part in back in 2021. An amazing collection accompanied by the fantastic Grootbos Florilegium book. To find out more about the work of the Grootbos Foundation see here.
Painting for the Grootbos Florilegium - online talk
On February 24th I gave an online talk over Zoom on painting for the Grootbos Nature Reserve Florilegium in South Africa for Julia Trickey's programme of online talks.
I was very lucky to be invited to South Africa at the end of 2021 to take part in the prestigious Grootbos Florilegium project documenting and celebrating the fynbos plants of the Cape. I have two paintings in the collection: Blehcnum capense and Gomphorcarpus fruticosus. To find out more about the work of the Grootbos Foundation seehere.
My painting of Dryopteris erythrosora is being featured in the RHS Lindley Library online exhibition 'Worth a Thousand Words, Gold Standard Botanical Art' which opened on the 17th September 2021.
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laura Silburn botanical art
NEWS
I am a botanical artist working in Devon and Cornwall, where I am a Fellow of the Eden Project Florilegium Society and teach botanical art courses at the Eden Project, the Sawpit Studio in Heligan Gardens and at RHS Rosemoor, as well as teaching overseas. I have three RHS Gold medals (2013,2014 and 2018) to my name as well as Best Exhibit and Best Botanical Painting Awards. I paint both to record species and celebrate plants. My work ranges from botanical documentation for archives and florilegia to artistic studies of plants exploring our relationship to them.
Please use the menu at the top of the page for details of paintings, prints and cards, upcoming exhibitions and how to contact me.
Painting Holiday at Clos Mirabel in South West France
Dates for 2025 announced!
'Autumn Produce of the Pyrenees'
11th-18th October 2025
A week of painting the fruits of the season with me at Clos Mirabel in South- West France. See further details here, or watch this short video here.
September at the Sawpit, 4-day course
2nd-5th September 2024
NOW BOOKING see below
RHS Rosemoor short courses for 2024
I will be running more short courses next year at the beautiful RHS Rosemoor gardens in North Devon. All of this year's courses were fully booked so keep an eye on the RHS Rosemoor website for dates and bookings for next year. The first course is in March and is now bookable on the RHS website here.
Primulas and other Spring Flowers in Botanical Watercolour
RHS Garden Rosemoor, North Devon 8th-10th March 2024
FULLY BOOKED
Roses at Rosemoor - and other summer blooms
BOOKING OPENS 8TH FEBRUARY
RHS Garden Rosemoor, North Devon 26th-28th July 2024
3 day workshop £225 for RHS members and £272.55 for non-members.
Join me at Rosemoor using the wonderful roses and other blooms from the RHS plant centre to practice our botanical watercolour. Roses can be tricky subjects with layers of petals and glowing, delicate colours, but with a breadth of different blooms to choose from - from the simpler singles to the richest reds - there will be a suitable subject for everyone.
Suitable for beginners, though all levels of experience are welcome and I aim to give plenty of one to one tuition to build on your skills whichever level you are at.
Book here on the RHS website or if you have any further questions about the course please docontact me.
Term-time weekly classes at the Sawpit, Heligan
These will continue to run in Spring 2024 in ten-week terms at the wonderful and well-equipped studio at Heligan. For any further information please contact me.
Heligan Sawpit Studio course dates for 2024
The Sawpit Studio is in the grounds of The Wagon House in a private area of Heligan Gardens. As a dedicated botanical art studio it is well-equipped with an extensive botanical art library, light box and microscope - and tea, coffee and biscuits are provided throughout the day as well! The courses are suitable for all levels including complete beginners as the small group size allows most of the teaching to take place one-to one. The days run from 10am until 3pm and for short courses the catered lunches are delivered to the house where we enjoy our meals each day.
Spring Flowers at the Sawpit 4-day course
15th-18th April 2024
FULLY BOOKED
Most places were filled immediately when the course was circulated on my mailing list (to be added to the email mailing list please use my contact form) .
September at the Sawpit, 4-day course
2nd-5th September 2024
NOW BOOKING
This 4-day course costs £320 and includes a catered two-course lunch each day. A £50 deposit is needed to secure a place. We will be looking at the final flush of flowers and foliage at the end of the summer and participants are welcome to bring their own projects or plant material to work on if they wish. As most of the teaching will be one-to-one all levels of experience are welcome.
Please get in touch for further details or to book.
Zoom classes
My Zoom sessions are a great way to keep going, put aside some time to paint and share our work with others.
Sessions currently run on Fridays each week. Our days start by meeting at 10am and students can take part in a weekly set task or work on their own projects. We review work before lunch and start our final review around 3pm. I am available in the virtual classroom to answer queries and help during the day where most participants stay to paint together.
Each session is friendly and informal and you are not required to sign up to a block of lessons to keep the lessons flexible. Each session costs £15 and requires you to download Zoom, which is free. All are welcome - I have students from all over the world of all levels of experience with complete beginners welcome. If you'd like further information then please contact me.