A TALENT for art has given two pensioners the chance to show off their work to a wider audience.

Ivan Bellchambers, of Gershwin Court, Basingstoke, and Chloe Willett, of Paddock House, Hook, have both been singled out to exhibit at a gallery in London.

The show is the culmination of the Over 60s Art Awards, which are run by the Elderly Accommodation Counsel, and this year there were more than 2,500 entries.

The work of the 128 finalists will be displayed at the Artists and Illustrators Exhibition at the London Business Design Centre in Islington from July 22 until July 25.

Mr Bellchambers, who worked as a teacher in Africa as well as Basingstoke, said he was very pleased to be included in the show, although he is not too keen on the use of certain words regarding the event.

The 71-year-old explained: "I don't consider myself to be elderly at all - getting on a bit, maybe!"

Mr Bellchambers spent many years working in Rhodesia before returning to Basingstoke in 1970, where he worked at schools in Worting and Oakley.

Since Mr Bellchambers retired from full-time teaching he has devoted more time to his art and said: "I mainly paint watercolours because I think they are the most challenging.

"I have painted all my life, but during my teaching career I never really had the opportunity to get down to it as a serious job. When I took early retirement I got the chance to spend more time doing it.

"I paint a lot of landscapes and the one that has gone into the exhibition is part of a series I have done on Venice."

Mrs Willett, 79, was too ill to talk to The Gazette about the competition but her husband, Peter, said she was delighted to have been chosen.

He said: "She has been working with pastels for about 20 years but it has just been hobby painting.

"She had a piece exhibited last year because the show's organiser, Mary Benham, lives near us and invited her to submit it.

"She's very pleased and proud to have been chosen for the final exhibition."