THE SCENIC ROUTE: Kent painter's botanical works lead to Hollywood
Maidstone artist Lauren Elizabeth’s art leads to scenery projects with international film sets
In March this year, Wes Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar took home the Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film.
The famous director, who now calls Kent home, shot the entirety of the picture here in the county, with the vast majority being filmed at Maidstone Studios.
It was the first Academy Award for Anderson, who is known for his uniquely-styled films - such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Darjeeling Ltd and Asteroid City - and his collaboration with influential production designer Adam Stockhausen.
Imagine our delight when one of the artists who worked on The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar was tagged in our news post.
Lauren Elizabeth worked as a scenic artist under Stockhausen on the film, with her particular attention to detail when it comes to botanicals coming in handy for creating the hand-painted backdrops to the ultra-green ‘jungle’ scenes (pictured).
“It was really special,” says Lauren, who moved from Dartford to Maidstone two years ago. “We were painting it in the Powerhub, which is this old listed building on the river. The style of the building is quite Wes Anderson actually, and it basically got taken over by the whole art department for the film. And we painted there every day.
“There was a set in the building, too, which was being filmed while we were working. So suddenly you’d see Ben Kingsley walking through. One of the days Wes Anderson, Adam Stockhausen and Jarvis Cocker were walking down the stairs, which, like my friend said, was possibly the most indie-est thing ever.”
Lauren’s journey to being on the set of a Wes Anderson movie, which was preceded by working on the set of Wonka (2023) and Armando Ianucci’s Avenue 5 and succeeded by Disney’s Snow White (2025), Wicked (2024) and Dune II (2024), is something of tale of right place, right time.
“I hate to admit it, but my nan always said ‘It doesn’t matter what you do, it’s who you know’,” says Lauren. “I always thought it wasn’t true, but it really has been like a series of the right place at the right time.”
ON THE SCENE(RY)
Lauren studied sculpture at City & Guilds of London Art School, and work with the more 3D form did lead to a job with internationally-renowned artist Antony Gormley.
“I met someone who worked for him and went on trial there,” says Lauren. “I always used to want to work for him, mainly because you’d hear that he would make these big lunches for staff and you’d all eat together. It was amazing and I’m still in touch with them all and Anthony’s a very personable person. I have done a few residencies at his house in Norfolk, where I painted a lot of my plants.”
Lauren’s move into watercolours and painting botanicals started during the pandemic lockdowns, when she would spend a lot of time outside.
“I’m really passionate about plants and biodiversity,” she says. “I love spending time studying botanicals.
The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar - Credit netflix
“They’re just simple observations of plants, most of my paintings, but I suppose they have a little edge... I like them to express my fascination with plants and to hone in on a detail.”
Lauren’s first job after Covid was as a decorative artist working on home interiors, which was where her eye for detail was spotted.
“This guy I was working with said ‘Oh, you’d do really well on film’ and he was working on EastEnders at the time. And before I knew it, I was on EastEnders.”
Lauren was part of the team recreating the Albert Square set, which was under a full refurbishment after almost 40 years.
“They rebuilt the entire set of proper houses, like real brick and mortar. And we had to basically copy the old set. So I was working on Phil Mitchell’s house, which was amazing, and having to graffiti Janine’s name into a brick and stuff like that. From there I just started saying yes to everything.”
Taking a job on Avenue 5, the comedy series by Armando Ianucci, Lauren would paint spaceships rather than planets.
“I had a determination that I was just gonna get there. To just keep going. And it was an amazing time to get into film as it was post-Covid but before the strikes, and I went from film to film for three years.”
Moving on to Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet, Lauren worked as a set dec painter.
“It’s kind of a fine line between working in props and set dec, which is more decorative. Props can be quite technical, you know, making things from latex and stuff like that. I fall a lot into scenic art, so lots of wood-graining and making things look really beautiful, basically.”
Ending up on the Wes Anderson set design team was even more a stroke of serendipity and, after initially not getting a role in the props team, Lauren’s plant-painting portfolio caught the eye.
“It was about four weeks later, they rang me saying ‘I think I’ve got a job for you, we now need to paint the jungle’,” she recalls. “So it was literally like a dream come true. I love painting plants and it was kind of a Russo style, so it was right up my street. It was about three months in Maidstone, inventing plants, it was just wonderful.”
About to become a mother, Lauren is also continuing to focus on her personal artwork and will be looking to continue to sell her prints as well as expand her pieces into decorative wallpapers - but at a more affordable price point than Farrow & Ball or Laura Ashley.
“I come from quite a working-class background and I want to make sure that type of decoration is for everyone and not this kind of elite thing,” she says.
“Fundamentally, I have a deep fascination and respect for plants. I would like to continue painting them and sharing that fascination in the hope that it will encourage others to look at plants and understand their extreme importance to our ecosystem and biodiversity.”
