A RICHMOND woman who has been painting for only four years has been named among the top ten artists at a national exhibition.

Mrs Kate Green, of High Garth, won the accolade at the British Watercolour Society's Christmas exhibition, held at Ilkley on Sunday.

In only her second exhibition, people voted her into the top ten out of 200 exhibitors showing 1,300 paintings.

"I was thrilled," she said. "There was some brilliant stuff at the exhibition, and when I hung my display and looked around at the competition, it was a little daunting. Everybody was saying 'have a go' beforehand, but I was a bit nervous."

Her display now goes forward to the top ten British artists' exhibition at the Traditions fine art gallery in Ilkley. All the paintings there will be on sale from Monday until January.

She has also been invited to become a Companion of the International Guild of Artists by the British Society of Painters.

Mrs Green took up painting seriously after being awarded a first class honours degree in art history and philosophy of the arts from the Open university in 1996.

She explained: "It took six years to complete the course and I got a terrific buzz out of doing it.

"I had played about with the idea of painting for a few years, but when I did my degree course and saw so many lovely paintings in galleries, I was motivated to have a crack at it."

She says her main inspiration was Van Gogh's "shoe studies" and his use of light and shade. As a result, the subject matter for many of her works is daughter Clare's old shoes and boots.

Her rapid rise to the top ranks of the British art world have given her the confidence to aim for a career as a professional painter. She said: "I never thought for a moment that I would get this sort of recognition with what was really my first serious exhibition.

"I would love to think I could achieve success as a professional artist, but there is so much competition. I am taking it one step at a time."