A Sidmouth artist has been shortlisted to showcase his work in a prestigious international wildlife exhibition.

Mark Taylor Hutchinson, a successful dive photographer, was chosen from hundreds of entries for the Wildlife Artist of the Year competition, which exhibits work by amateur and professional artists.

The Sidmouth resident only turned his hand to painting two years ago, using oils to recreate the photographs of the sharks he has seen during his dives.

Mark said: “This is the first time I have put in an entry so it was a bit of a shock.

“I am still taken aback, it came out of the blue as I had to apply last year and I kind of forgot about it then I saw the email and I had to do a second take.

“If you are a wildlife artist, it’s the place you dream of exhibiting.

“You can exhibit up to four paintings, I wanted to put something in that was my best piece of work.”

A passionate supporter of sharks, he said painting was the next creative step and began capturing his global assignments on canvas.

His recent trips took him diving with great white sharks in Isla Guadalupe, greater hammerhead, bull and tiger sharks in the Bahamas and ragged tooth sharks in South Africa.

His work in Isla Guadalupe was the basis for the painting that will be showcased at the wildlife exhibition in May.

The painting, which features a great white shark, will be on display throughout the six-day exhibition in London and puts Mark in with the chance to win one of gallery’s top prizes.

Mark said: “Just to exhibit in that event is an achievement in itself.

“The competition is very fierce and if I was to win, it would be incredible.

“The fact is, it’s a great platform to promote your work.”

Art runs in the family as his father George is also a well known painter for his abstract work and exhibits round Sidmouth.

The pair put on a display at Kennaway House last year to showcase the best of sea and shore in. The Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition will take place at The Mall Galleries, London, between May 1 to May 6.

To see more of Mark’s work visit http://www.wildinspiration.co.uk/