TWO promising students from Sheldon School in Chippenham have been honoured among the best young artists in the county after their work was displayed at a Corsham gallery.

Artur Pogorzelski, 18, scooped the top prize in the Young Open contest at The Pound Arts Centre, while 17-year-old Chloe Windle was highly commended.

Their art is on display at The Pound all month, with pieces by Year 7-9 category winners Evie Hurstwood and Wilf Thompson.

Artur, who now lives in Trowbridge and is to train as a special constable when he finishes college, won for his pencil sketch of his brother.

He said: “It was about 12 hours of work that one. My A-level project was on family and relations, and he was at hand so I just drew him.

“I was quite surprised to hear I’d won as there were a lot of good pieces there.

“I wasn’t going to go any further with art, but now I am considering spending more time at it in my free time.”

Chloe’s entry was a coloured polyblock polystyrene print of her horse.

The photography and art student said: “I’ve never had anything of mine displayed like this before, so It’s a real confidence boost. I was at the launch of the exhibition when they announced the winners, which was good and made me very proud.

“I did the piece in my 10-hour art exam in Year 12. It was personal to me so it turned out really well.”

This was the first time the Pound Arts Centre ran the young artists’ contest.

Creative learning officer India Pocock said: “We had 52 entrants altogether and we’re hoping to do it again in the future, as it got a really good response. There was a real range of pieces; sculpture, photographs, acrylic paint and a variety of mixed materials and collages.”

The exhibition of the top pieces runs at the centre until April 26.