A PENSIONER from Harrow has been nominated for an award with her work appearing at a national art exhibition next month.

More than 100 pieces of artwork created by artists over the age of 60 have been selected for the exhibition at The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists' RBSA Gallery, in Birmingham.

The event takes place from May 10 to May 21 and is a competition for amateurs created to celebrate the artistic talents of older people.

Rosalind Avadis, 89, has been chosen after entering her work A Cheeky Little Girl, which is a picture of the daughter of one of her carers.

She turned to art as a hobby after being invited to a class when in her 60s following the death of her husband Bernard in 1972.

She said: “I did win the award about four years ago and made a picture of a pig with a larger ear so it looked like it was listening harder.

“I make unusual pictures like that and people seem to like it.

“Someone invited me to join an art class and in my 60s I did an art O-level and then an A-level, at Harrow Arts College, in Hatch End, and it turned out I was not too bad at what I did."

Mrs Avadis was born in north Kensington, near Portabello Road, in 1921 before moving to Neasden with her parents. She started work as a post office counter clerk at the age of 18.

She moved to Leeds with her husband, who worked as a clothing designer for a company called John Barron.

She added: “He could draw beautifully and we had all the big tickets to shows like Dior.

“He lost his job, though, and we moved to London.”

Mrs Avadis’s husband died of viral pneumonia in 1972 and she raised their three children as a single parent.

She said: “I have three lovely children and four gorgeous grandchildren and they are all I need.

“I draw anything, dogs, cats, people, although when I first started I gradually turned to faces. I'm very happy that the work will be exhibited.”