AN ARTIST from Dorchester is among those shortlisted for a £20,000 prestigious national prize for his work.

The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize is the UK’s leading competition for British contemporary representational painting and drawing.

Michael Taylor from Dorchester is among those in the running for his work Attic Scene with Grave Goods.

He is one of three artists from the county and among 81 from around the country competing for the prize.

The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, an open competition for professional and amateur artists in the UK, is for representational art – art that seeks to capture the real world. The competition aims to promote and support fresh new talent.

The other entrants from Dorset are Debbie Lee from Swanage for her work Girl With Cat and Ian Hargreaves from Poole for his work Moroccan Tanneries.

Organisers said a total of 1,191 artists entered this year’s competition which represents the highest level of entries in the prize’s 14-year history.

The eventual winners will be selected from these works and announced on March 5 at an evening event at the Mall Galleries in London.

All artists' work will be exhibited at Mall Galleries in London from March 5–17.

Ian Rowley, chairman of the organising committee, said: “This year, we’ve been bowled over by the quality of the entries. There’s a tremendous diversity to the works combined with some very bold approaches and techniques.

“A record-breaking 2,400 works were submitted by over a thousand artists, which shows that representational art in the UK is in better health than the art establishment might surmise.”

First prize in now worth £20,000 plus an engraved gold medal; the second prize is £4,000; the young artist prize is also £4,000. In addition to the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize itself, the competition’s organisers have introduced the Daphne Todd Prize worth £2,000 which will be selected from the exhibition shortlist. The Brian Botting Award for outstanding representation of the human form is worth £5,000.

The competition is open to any artist, professional or amateur, resident in the UK and painting or drawing works of representational art and over 18-years-old. The competition aims to promote and support fresh new talent.