One Year On – Catching up with Laura Jane Wylder – RHS Virtual Chelsea 2020
Today is the last day of RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2020, and what a great week it’s been! We’ve been looking back and catching up with the artisans from last year, who all worked out of our garden buildings in leafy Ranelagh Gardens.
What better way to relive the show’s highlights but through the experiences of some of the artisans from the cohort of 2019? We also couldn’t resist finding out what doors have been opened for them since exhibiting and where they see themselves in the future.
Laura Jane Wylder
Show Highlights
Looking back on Chelsea 2019 Laura has many special memories. “I think the highlight was the short piece of filming we did with David Rich of the Rich Brothers for the BBC coverage. I was terrified and really bad on camera but it was an amazing experience and the film crew drew in big crowds and a really exciting vibe!”
Commissions
“I was lucky enough to be approached by the very talented landscape architect Charlie Hartigan, she was looking for a sculpture for her Young Designer show garden at Tatton Park Flower Show.”
The pair clicked straight away, and Laura agreed to make a special sculpture to represent the sense of freedom, energy and being comfortable in your own body.
“The finished garden, 1 in 10 was absolutely stunning and won the People’s Choice award, I was so proud to have the sculpture ‘Astrid’ displayed in such a wonderful garden.”
Laura also had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful gallery owner, Karen Spreadborough, from Australia who now represents her work in The Hive Ocean Grove in Melbourne.
“I even made it into their local newspaper as their first international artist. It’s wonderful to know my work resonates with so many different people.”
Future Plans
One of the best things about being at Chelsea for Laura was the number of people she was able to talk to and learn from.
“I was pleasantly surprised that my smaller sculptures were very popular, the feedback I received inspired my new collection of small figures that you can mix and match to make a personal set.”
The collection was due to launch this month but with delays at the foundry she’s now hoping to make the pieces available before the end of the year. Watch this space!
To find out more about Laura, her process and her artwork, check out our interview with her from last year here.
