A PAINTER from the borough is making her Sky Arts debut this week.

Stefanie Trow, a Prestwich artist, will be featured in an episode of Landscape Artist of the Year.

The Salford University graduate was delighted to be invited to the show for her submission, a painting known as 'The Gate', depicting an unknown area of Heaton Park.

Stefanie went down to the Biome in Cornwall, where she competed against other artists to impress judges with paintings of shrubbery, greenery as applicants were whittled down until the semi-finals.

She said: "It was my parents, who met at art school, who got me into painting as a way of expressing myself and I never looked back.

"It was hard to get started professionally and for a long time I had to support myself with part-time jobs, for example at Strangeways Prison.

"Eventually I was getting so many commissions I could take it up full-time and a couple of years ago.

"Going down to Cornwall and meeting some of my heroes was pretty overwhelming at first and I just wanted to put my headphones in.

"I'm really proud to have gone up there and represented my home town of Prestwich."

After working several part-time jobs, Stefanie went full time and opened up her own studio, Awol Studios in 2019.

Over the years, her work has been featured in several galleries and exhibitions, including the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Stefanie added: "To even send in a submission for Landscape Artist of the Year was a big step for me, a shot in the dark that I didn't even think would pay off.

"But, if you don't take the leap you'll always wish you had and I'm so glad I went out of my comfort zone.

"After the pandemic, I wanted to throw myself into these kinds of situations a bit more and get over those nerves."