Gardenia
Gardenia takes its name from the flower shop at its heart, photographed by Laura on a visit to Wimbledon Village. The deep shade cast by the blue canopy first caught her eye, but it is the figure in white that draws you in. A woman in the sunlight walking past the flower shop, a man approaching from the other direction, as if a meeting is about to happen. Laura is drawn to these small unwritten stories, the ones that exist for just a moment on an ordinary street.
Frequently bought together
Gardenia
The gallery is small, but it punches well above its weight. Friendly, expert and hugely knowledgeable about the artists it represents and displays, there is always something of interest, at different price levels.
The Artist
Laura Ritchie
Laura Ritchie grew up in South Africa, where she trained in Graphic Design in the 1990s. Laura now lives in Ashtead, Surrey. When lockdown brought her stationery business to a standstill, Laura picked up a paintbrush. She discovered a deep love of oils, and what began as an unexpected pause became the start of an entirely new career as an artist.
For the past six years, Laura has painted prolifically and with growing recognition. A committed plein air painter, she gets outside as often as time allows, painting with the Surrey Hills Plein Air Painters, and draws equally from life, whether at regular life drawing sessions or in her own garden, where she gathers flowers for still life arrangements. Her work has been exhibited at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2024 exhibition, the Green and Stone Summer Exhibition in 2025, and both the Society of Women Artists and the Chelsea Art Society in 2026. In December 2024, she won a portrait competition with the ROI Friends at the Mall Galleries.
Light and shadow are at the heart of everything Laura paints. She is drawn to the relationships between people and place, the small human moments that play out on an ordinary street every day, unseen by most.
