BURNELL MCKENNA
ABOUT
Is a Caribbean-born botanical artist celebrated for her luminous floral works that weave together the vibrancy of her island roots with the quiet elegance of classical fine art traditions. Her paintings bloom with bold colour and delicate detail, creating an immersive, ethereal world that explores beauty, preservation, and the intimate poetry of nature.
Working primarily in watercolour, and more recently also with ink and gouache, Burnell creates botanical portraits and large-scale abstract landscapes and seascapes that explore the fragility of coral reefs. Her practice reflects the tension between delicacy and drama, celebrating the enchanting resilience of flowers while drawing attention to the environmental urgency of protecting the natural world.
Her work is exhibited internationally, including at the Moscow State Biology Museum, and across Ireland, the UK, and the United States. It is held in private collections throughout Europe, the U.S., and Ireland. She is a member of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Botanical Artists (UK).
Burnell has been long-listed for the 2019 Jackson’s Painting Prize, awarded Best in Painting at the 2025 Willoughby Arts Fest, and featured in Inside Soca Magazine. Her art continues to bridge Caribbean vitality with European refinement, offering collectors and admirers a vision of nature that is both contemporary and timeless.
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BOTANICAL ARTWORK
My Portfolio
JOY OF THE GARDEN
Original watercolour 56x76cm - 2019
Joy of the Garden is one of my earliest works. I was very focused on capturing its texture and depth of colour of the petals of this delicate flower, and even individual pieces. Please get in touch in order to learn more about this piece.
SWEET PEAS
Watercolour on Paper 56x76cm - 2019
Sweet Peas is a large scale painting of the Lathyrus odoratus often grown for their colour (usually in pastel shades of blue, pink, purple and white, including bi-colours) and unique fragrance for private enjoyment or exhibition. I am a great fan of sweet peas and this is an example of my appreciation for this climbing beauty.
SCARLET
Original watercolour 56x76cm - 2020
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Scarlet is one of my recent watercolour works. It speaks to my Caribbean roots and bears elements of a tropical character that continues to fascinate me and pervades throughout my work. This painting has been featured in the Moscow State Biology Museum's International Animal & Botanical Painting and Illustration Exhibition - Tropic 20 Flora & Fauna 2020.
CHERRY PLUM
Original watercolour 56x76cm - 2019
A charming fruit, the cherry plum. I was drawn to the deep rich colour of this fruit mellowing in the evening sun, having spotted it on one of my jaunts. It is a popular ornamental tree for gardening or landscaping, grown for its very early flowering. Its enticing drupe and near purple foliage translated well on paper.
This painting has been featured in the British Botanical Artists Purely Botanical II Exhibition 2021
KERRY FOXGLOVES
Original Watercolour 56x76cm - 2020
Vibrant and delicate, the foxglove is one of those flowers whose bells beam with delight. There is a certain allure about the warm fuchsias and violet. I found this particular specimen on a trip to County Kerry, the most south-westerly of the Irish counties; a true heaven for a nature enthusiast. This painting was done at 6x scale and one of my largest paintings to date and featured in the Society of Botanical Art's Plantae 2020 exhibition and most recently the Association of British Botanical Artists' Purely Botanical Exhibition I & II in 2021.
