A WHALLEY artist has been shortlisted for one of the biggest open art prizes in the country.

Jo Taylor, 46, will showcase her work in the New Light Prize Exhibition 2015 and could be in with the chance of winning a £10,000 prize.

The exhibition features some of the country’s top ‘undiscovered’ artists and those selected, including Ms Taylor, will have their work displayed in three high profile galleries as the exhibition tours the country.

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These will be Bowes Museum in County Durham, Mercer Gallery in Harrogate and Panter and Hall Fine Art Gallery in London.

There will be a prizegiving ceremony at the Bows including the Valeria Sykes Award of £10,000 and the Patron’s Choice Award of £2,500.

Ms Taylor specialises in animal paintings and uses a mix of watercolour, Gauche and collage to build up her work and said she was delighted to have been shortlisted.

She said: “It’s great doing something you enjoy and love and to be appreciated on such a huge level.

“I love painting horses, they have such an ancient relationship with man and the land and its elements.

“They’re passionate, sensitive and volatile creatures and they are fascinating to me and its important to recognise their importance to the world.”

Ran by New Light, a charity that exists to support talented contemporary artists in the North of England, the competition received just under 2,000 submissions which was shortlisted down to 61 artists.

The exhibition was open to all artists who were born, studied or live in one of the counties in the North.

Laura Gascoigne, an art reviewer and one of the judges said none of the other open exhibitions she’s judged has tapped into such a pool of undiscovered talent.

She said: “The sheer variety of work, at all levels, was heartening – it bolstered my faith in the vigour of British painting.”

The prizes will be announced at the opening of the exhibition at Bowes Museum in Durham on Friday, October 16.