About Juliet
Masterful, Magical, Versatile: Juliet Thorburn Brings Caribbean Flair to Delaware Plate
Juliet Thorburn is a Wilmington-based artist with colorful and distinguished Caribbean roots. With nature, life, and spirituality among her favorite subjects, this masterful and versatile professional is known by her followers for her “magical touch.” Indeed, her happy and whimsical watercolors give life to her uplifting works, which range in style from realism, to a special version of the abstract form she calls her Ethereals and Jewelled Ethereals. Her oils, which are just as stirring, are often described as belonging to the category of Magical Realism.
Influenced by her multicultural heritage, her artist grandmother, the late Barbara Parsons, and the breathtaking beauty of her first home, Jamaica, Thorburn has always been drawn to nature’s energy. No surprise, then, that she first made her name as one of the island’s premier nature artists, with her spirited and soulful watercolors and illustrations quickly leading to similarly successful—but arguably far bolder—works in oils. Eager to explore further, she eventually turned her artist’s eye inward, leaving the realism of her earlier works to portray the essence of her subjects in equally intriguing abstract works.
From the moment she decided on a career in art, Thorburn maintained her unwavering focus. It was while studying in the United States and Italy that she sharpened her use of color, light, and both visual and ethereal detail. First trained as a graphic artist at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, she then traveled to Florence to study painting and drawing at L’Instituto per L’Arte e Il Restauro. A later trip to Taos, New Mexico, to attend a watercolor workshop further honed her skills.
In 1994, the artist was celebrated at her first solo show at the Grosvenor Gallery, a popular Kingston gallery. The event led to numerous yearly exhibits in Jamaica, including at Kingston’s prestigious Jamaica National Gallery Biennial Exhibition, as well as exhibits overseas. A subsequent project saw her producing an enchanting series of watercolors of historic Jamaican churches, which she compiled to produce a series of prints, as well as a self-published book, “A Watercolor Tribute to Historic Jamaican Churches.” Her maiden book was well received, first at its soft launch held at the Jamaican embassy in Washington, D.C., in the early spring of 2016, and then at the official launch that summer in Kingston, Jamaica, at the island’s historic Devon House.
Three years later, in 2019, she presented her first solo art show outside of Jamaica at the Delaware Center for Horticulture in Wilmington. Soon thereafter, she was invited to participate in a day show at the Residence of the Jamaican Ambassador in Chevy Chase, Maryland, as well as a book signing at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Delaware. The success of these shows helped to earn Thorburn greater recognition as an artist in the Mid-Atlantic.
Today, this multifaceted artist has added teaching to her list of accomplishments, and continues to maintain a mastery that has won her both critical acclaim and popular enthusiasm for her art. She engages regularly with her growing audience through social media on FaceBook, Instagram, and her newsletter. Her website www.julietthorburn.com showcases all her works, prints, and books for sale.
MAIN PHASES OF JULIET THORBURN’S WORKS
WATERCOLOURS
Most of Juliet’s representational pieces mark her earlier days as a young artist, when she won enthusiastic acclaim for her almost magical use of color and light.
THE ETHEREALS
This series, and the “Jewelled Ethereals” (watercolors enhanced by the sparkle of glass), marked her growing appreciation for the abstract. Dancing with magic and whimsy, these pieces became an instant favorite with the artist’s followers.
OILS
A more recent passion, Juliet’s oil paintings are largely symbolic in imagery, the subject’s essence comes quietly to the fore in each memorable piece.
THE SPIRITUAL SERIES
A current fascination with spiritual topics has Juliet focusing on a series of oils featuring mystical sacred imagery, including and especially Madonna Figures.
A WATERCOLOUR TRIBUTE TO HISTORIC JAMAICAN CHURCHES
Published in late 2015, one of Juliet’s current offerings from the easel is her outstanding labor of love – “A Watercolour Tribute to Historic Jamaican Churches”. This beautiful coffee table book includes research text and photographs and is destined to become a “must have” for collectors.