Wildlife artist Jeremy Paul has had one of his paintings chosen to join the permanent collection of the prestigious Woodson Art Museum, in Wisconsin, in the United States.

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum holds the annual ‘Birds in Art’ exhibition.

This has grown to be the most prestigious exhibition for artists who specialise in painting birds and is widely regarded as the pinnacle of the genre.

Each year they have a jury of art and museum curators to select around 80 paintings for the exhibition, submitted by more than 1,000 artists worldwide.

Of these, they usually select three or four to be added to the museum’s permanent collection.

Jeremy said: ‘I am delighted and honoured that this year they have chosen my painting ‘Lesser flamingos – Lake Tsimanampetsotsa, Madagascar.

‘I first saw the Birds in Art exhibition in 1981/2 when it was on tour at the Natural History Museum in London – I still have the catalogue.

‘I was a marine biologist at the time and it was that exhibition that made me want to paint birds seriously.

‘I became a full-time artist in 1990 and have had paintings selected for the exhibition 11 times.’

He added: ‘I never thought I would ever get into the exhibition, let alone be in the permanent collection.’

The painting follows Jeremy’s trip to Madagascar about six years ago.

‘The lake is in the arid south of the island and is soda lake which seems to change colour as the day progresses,’ he said.

‘We walked up to a viewpoint and could see across the lake with a line of flamingos in the distance.

‘I thought the various horizontal lines would make an interesting composition.’

Jeremy’s most recent exhibition in the island is on at Studio 42, in Port St Mary.

It features about 35 new paintings, including the originals of the recent Birds of Prey stamp issue. The Studio 42 exhibition continues until October 14.

The gallery is open 10am-5pm on weekdays and 10am-4pm on Saturdays.