AN ART gallery with a twist has been recognised for its Fairtrade ethos.

The Fish out of Water gallery in Wotton-under-Edge won a silver trophy at the South West Fairtrade Business Awards in Bristol in March.

It was praised for its innovative range of Fairtrade gifts which bring developing world projects to the UK market.

Mike Smylie and partner Moe Morgan said they were shocked to get the recognition so early into business, having only taken over the Long Street gallery in October.

Ms Morgan explained: “While we were keen to keep it as a showcase for arts and crafts from local artists, we also wanted to offer a platform for some of the amazing work now available from artists around the world who recycle.

“Gifts include ‘upcycled’ bottles, tyres, tin cans, biscuit tins – stuff that sounds like junk but in the hands of these imaginative artists is transformed into beautiful clever creations.”

Fairtrade art is blossoming as offering unique gifts.

The recent business award gave special credit to the gallery for supporting Kenyan art collective Ocean Sole, whose artists recycle abandoned flipflops from beaches and reprocess them into beautiful, multi-coloured sculptures.