OWSLEBURY'S Janet Gough says she's delighted to have had a painting accepted for an exhibition in London this week.

It's the first time she's submitted work for inclusion in the Society of Women Artists' annual event which continues at The Mall Galleries until Sunday, June 10.

Opened by Gloria Hunniford, it is the SWA's 146th exhibition and it features 600 contemporary works of art, including a stunning collection of pieces by leading professional artists.

Janet, who is best-known for setting up Hampshire Theatrical Wardrobe, only took up painting in 2003, having made her name as a textiles artist and designer.

After winning an art scholarship to Dartington Hall School, she graduated from Winchester School of Art in 1979 and worked as a freelance designer of commercially-printed textiles.

It was while she was working for the county council that a bequest of 4,000 former Covent Garden operatic costumes to the education department inspired her to set up Hampshire Theatrical Wardrobe, the costume restoration and hire business for schools, colleges and theatrical companies.

After bringing up a family, Janet returned to the fashion industry. She produced her own collection of multi-coloured handknitted sweaters and accessories and she was selected by the British Crafts Council to exhibit in New York and San Francisco.

However, it was when the American market quietened after 9/11 that Janet turned to painting.

She had been managing a company, supervising 50 women producing textiles to her design, and it was then that she realised she had moved away from the creative process; painting, she said, has been her way back.

Her approach has changed little and the painting which she has in the SWA exhibition, Two Rabbits and Three Fishes, reflects the "trademark" vibrancy of her textile work.

"People describe me as a colorist and they're probably right," she said. "Whether you are producing a piece of knitwear, pottery or a painting, the creative process is the same; only the skills are different."

Janet, who continues to produce a small collection of textiles each year, also designs and makes resin jewellery. Her workspace at Lane End Cottage, Longwood, is open to the public from noon until 7pm (except Wednesdays) from August 18 to September 2, as part of the seventh annual Hampshire Artists Open Studios event. To contact her call 01962 777786 or email janetgtextiles@aol.com