ARTWORK by a painter from Thornbury is set to go on show amongst prestigious company as part of a special exhibition in London.

“Trouble” by former Castle School student Josh Crowe, 23, has been selected from more than 1,000 pieces to exhibit as part of The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2017, which is celebrating its 30th year.

The watercolour will go up against 86 others to be crowned the winner of what has become the largest and most prestigious prize for contemporary watercolour painting in the country.

Winners will be announced on Sunday, with the exhibition on show at the Mall Galleries in London until September 23, before touring across the UK.

Josh said he was “ecstatic” when he was told he was a finalist, having already been shocked he had made the second round of judging.

“I honestly had no high expectations going in, seeing as these competitions have such a high volume of submissions from many talented artists,” he said.

Having graduated from Wimbledon College or Art with a degree in fine art painting last year, Josh found himself having to fit his practice around a full time job.

Without a studio, he had to work from the small apartment he was living in, and had to reassess how he produced his work, coming to the conclusion that he to make smaller paintings.

Trouble measures a miniscule 6x4cm.

“This is such a prestigious competition, just making it this far is a victory for me,” he said. “As for whether or not I'll win the competition, given the calibre of artists I'm up against, I highly doubt it.”

He said however that his fingers were crossed to be in the running for “the Jackson’s Prize” which is awarded to the best young artist.

Having started painting in watercolours when he was around five or six-years-old, Josh became a regular painter, and to this day still uses the original set his parents gave him when he started out.

After leaving Castle School, he went on to study at Bristol School of Art before going on to study at Wimbledon.

“Painting has always been my passion, he said, "but I owe my skill and success to my parents and the encouragement they offered me throughout my life."

To find out more about Josh and his work, visit www.joshcrowe.co.uk