A SWISS Alps-inspired painting by a Northwich artist will adorn the walls of the world’s largest open art exhibition.

Interlaken Eiger, by Joanne Finnegan, from Northwich, will be on display at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2016 in Burlington House, London, until August.

The Summer Exhibition is the world's oldest and largest open art competition and exhibition, featuring 1,000 works from 13,000 submissions.

“I feel on cloud nine and totally shocked to be selected,” Joanne said.

Joanne, a former Rudheath High School and Sir John Deane's College sixth form student, moved to Switzerland in 2007.

Soon after her arrival the Alps began to take hold of her creative senses.

"I devoured the landscapes of Ferdinand Hodler and the stories of Heinrich Harrer,” Joanne said.

“After a very difficult time in my life I found myself increasingly drawn towards one mountain – The Eiger and its north face.

“To me it feels as if it was placed there as a full stop on the landscape. The only option for me was to return to painting large canvases.”

Joanne begins her pieces by sketching and taking photographs then returning to the studio to produce around four or five drawings to give her ideas for the larger canvas.

“I am apprehensive as the painting comes together, working in bursts of several hours at a time over several months,” she said.

“I then bring the painting out of the studio and into my home so I can live with the image and get a feel of its direction – what works and what needs to be reworked.

“The painting slowly becomes my representation of the mountain and the impact it has on me.”

For Interlaken Eiger, and many other recent pieces, Joanne took the unusual step to use an old Swiss map as her canvass.

“The idea of using old maps and collage to produce a mixed media image, became a natural progression from my sketch book drawings,” Joanne said.

“The pictures are created on old printed Swiss maps from the mountain's region, which I then draw, paint and use collage (old photographs, drawings, prints) to build the image of the mountains.

“I try to capture my emotion and representation for the mountains.”

The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2016 runs until August 16. For more information royalacademy.org.uk

To find out more about Joanne’s work visit joannefinnegan.com