A Hexham artist is 'thrilled' to be included in an art exhibition in London.

James Spencer, 32, originally from Kent but has lived in Hexham for almost 10 years, is 'over the moon' that he will have his work shown at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2022 at the Mall Galleries in London between 5-14th May.

From a young age, James has always shown an interest in art which led him to focus and pursue a career in it.

"I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember," James said.

"I’ve always been interested in art, at school, I knew I wanted to pursue it as a career. "This lead me to study art at college and then illustration at university.

This year James decided to take part in a competition to have a chance of having his artwork featured in an exhibition in London.

James said: "For each year’s exhibition, there is a call for entries which invites artists from around the world to submit their work.

"In line with this year’s theme, I decided to submit a self-portrait.

"After finding out it had got through the initial preselection phase I had to take the piece down to the Mall Galleries in London for the final selection."

"I was over the moon when I found out the painting had got past the final stage of selection and would be in the exhibition.

"It feels like a real honor to be included."