BUDDING artists are sharpening their pencils and cleaning their easels in preparation for the Cradley Village Art Challenge.

Entrants will be given a map of the village and will then have about four hours to complete a drawing or painting of Cradley's beautiful scenery.

Margaret Edgar, owner of the Lyttleton Gallery in Great Malvern, will judge the event, together with Peter Wynn-James, who owns the Lower Nupend Gallery in Cradley, and the winner will be awarded a prize of £50.

The event, on Saturday, September 6, will be based at Cradley Village Hall, where there will also be a first-anniversary exhibition of work by members of Cradley, Mathon and Storridge Art Club, including portraits and landscapes.

Ros Rowberry, a retired art teacher from Malvern Girls' College who has helped to organise the event with Margaret White, said: "There's so much to choose from in Cradley, with the fields, animals, thatched cottages and period residences. There's a wealth of material."

Similar events have taken place at Longdon Hall and Whittington Lodge in Cheltenham but this is the first time the event has been held in Cradley.

All ages are welcome and artists can work in any medium.

The challenge costs £5 to enter and begins at 10am at Cradley Village Hall. Lunch will be available between noon and 1.30pm. All proceeds will go towards the village hall funds. For further details call 01886 880758.