One of the island's most distinctive artists has been awarded a prestigious arts bursary.

Portrait artist Beth Louella has been given the John Nicholson Foundation Bursary award 2021.

Administered by the Rushen and Western Mann Rotary Club, the award was created to help support a chosen artist with a bursary of £500.

Beth Louella created a striking series of portraits of NHS workers during last year’s lockdown period and also gained recognition for stylised images of Manx legendary historical figures, such as St Maughold, King Orry and Mannanan.

She also created a visually striking collection of four portraits of people of colour who live in the Isle of Man.

Beth said that the award ’would enable me time and materials to research, experiment and develop different methods of working and marketing which are well-suited for exposure within the Isle of Man and the global online art market.

’Developing effective, efficient methods of working to create interesting and engaging art with lower price options and developing in island and online marketing further is important for me as an Isle of Man artist’.

John Nicholson, grandson of the famous Victorian painter John Millar Nicholson, was one of the island’s best-known artists of the 1900s. He also taught at the Douglas Art School and was president of the Isle of Man Art Society up until his death in 1988.