OPEN SPRING EXHIBITION 2024 including the Pauline Keen Memorial Purchase Prize Award

The ancient art of crafting flowers from paper was practised in China as early as 100 BC, when the flowers were put in containers and floated in water as religious offerings. Paper flowers reached Europe in around the 11th century and were extremely popular in Victorian Britain.

Paper flower artist Anna Howarth combines age-old techniques with a modern aesthetic. Under her studio name Florrie’s Paper Flora, Anna makes realistic, intricately crafted flowers from high quality crepe papers. Each petal and leaf is coloured, cut, shaped and assembled by hand, meaning every flower is unique. To capture the hues of natural flowers, Anna uses colouring materials including pastel, watercolour paint and acrylic ink.

Anna, who completed a foundation course in fine art before studying English literature at university, combines writing for national magazines and newspapers with paper flower art. She lives with her family in a village in Fife.