A 58-year-old Malvern woman who took up art after a rare disease wrecked her previous career has been flagged "a young artist to watch" in the West Midlands.

Jakki Carey says that she spluttered tea all over her iPad when she saw her name listed as a young artist by New Art West Midlands.

She said: “I’m an artist, and I’m definitely one to watch in 2016, but young? Not even close. But hey, two out of three ain’t bad, and it certainly made my day.”

She graduated from the University of Worcester last year with a BA in fine art practice. Her video of the Icelandic landscape, entitled Is, has been chosen for a showcase of West Midland arts school graduates..

“Being selected for New Art West Midlands has given my career a huge boost. I can confidently call myself a professional artist now," she said.

“And I was overjoyed when I found out my video was to be displayed in the Waterhall Gallery, a large, impressive space right in the heart of Birmingham.”

It is eight years since she had to give up her IT job because of a rare condition called Behcet’s Disease.

She said: "During a deeply desperate spell, a counsellor spoke to me about building a new life based on things that I could do. I had been dabbling in art all my life and at that point I began to wonder whether I could do it seriously.”

She decided to do a degree in art, to develop her understanding.

She said the student loan and maintenance grant were essential, as was extra support she received as a disabled person.

"All this, together with moral support from staff and other students, made doing a degree with a debilitating illness possible. It was still tough - it took five years rather than the usual three but I got there in the end. “

She makes videos, sculptures and installations that aim to translate the unexpected, the serendipitous and things that happen in the moment of making.

She used a home camcorder to make Is, recording a landscape that she had previously visited in 2000.

She said: "Working with what you’ve got, here and now, is at the crux of my practice. But in order to free myself to the moment, I have to be thoroughly prepared. Though the camcorder was a cheap one, I chose it very carefully and practised with it incessantly before I took it to Iceland. When I arrived there, I only had a tiny bag of cameras, batteries and HD cards, but I had all that was necessary to capture a good image. And because I was well practised with the equipment it felt like part of me and I was able to use it like an augmented eye, and go with the flow."

Her next project is much closer to home: she is planning work on the topic of brooks and small waterways she has discovered in her neighbourhood.