A BURNLEY-BORN artist who is registered blind is to have one of her paintings exhibited in a London gallery after scooping a top industry prize.
Justine Raith, who is a student at Blackburn College, was named a winner in the 2017 Royal Watercolour Society’s Contemporary Art Competition for her picture of Bardsey Island in North Wales.
It will be displayed at the Royal Watercolour Society’s Bankside Gallery in London until Wednesday, March 15.
The 38-year-old from Clayton Brook, who is studying for a degree in fine art and has a studio in Blackburn, was one of 130 winners from around the world in a competition which has also been won by Turner and Constable.
She said she was ‘gobsmacked’ when she heard she had been selected.
She said: “I have been painting since I was 16. It is just natural instinct and I get enjoyment out of it.
“Art is a passion for me."
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