A NEWCASTLE Emlyn artist is one of 200 European artists to have taken part in an outdoor festival in the Netherlands.

Helen Elliott took part in Pintar Rapido in Amsterdam, the biggest outdoor painting festival and exhibition in the Netherlands, on 3 September.

In the yearly event, artists have one day to create a painting from start to finish on the streets of Amsterdam. The following day the paintings are exhibited in an old Dutch church in the city centre.

Helen arrived two days before the event and spent the next day walking the canals to find a suitable place to paint.

“On the painting day, my canvas was stamped at 9am,” she said.

“I spent all day painting with a few short breaks for coffee.

“At five o’clock we handed in our completed paintings which were then expertly hung. The doors to the one-day show opened early the next morning, and by six o’clock it was all packed away again.”

Helen was delighted to sell her painting to a local couple on the day of the exhibition.