AN ARTIST from Mere is heading for the Big Apple after winning a national competition.

Andrew Walworth won the Williamsburg oil painting competition to win a weekend in New York for two people.

The competition is open to artists of all ages and abilities and Walworth won with his portrait of Mac the Labrador.

He worked in London for many years before moving back to the countryside and started painting hounds after a chance meeting with a farmer who did a lot of work for the Vale of Aylesbury with Garth and South Berks hunt.

He’s been interviewed by Leisure Painter and The Artist magazines about his success and has previously exhibited at Burghley Horse Trials, Hampton Court Flower Show and several galleries in London.