The last decade has been quite a journey for Lucy Pittaway, both as an artist and as a businesswoman.

And that combined contribution to the national art scene and the local economy has seen the North Yorkshire-based artist shortlisted for the prestigious Stray Ferret Business Awards.

“I’m delighted to have made the shortlist for the awards and congratulate all the other finalists,” said Lucy. “The creative arts can play such an important role in helping us all to navigate the challenges of life and also in supporting the local economy.”

In 2013, as her young twins started school, Lucy also took a big step forward to set up as a full-time professional artist working out of a spare room at home.

Alongside her art, her business, Lucy Pittaway Ltd has also blossomed. The once one-woman operation now employs 55 staff,and the spare room has long since been replaced; first by a gallery that opened in Brompton on Swale in 2015 and subsequently by another five galleries across the North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

With her reputation spreading worldwide, expansion has seen a half-million-pound investment in a warehouse and creative HQ at Brompton-on-Swale that includes a marketing and distribution base, studio, office, photography suite, and framing gallery.

One of her latest works, a tribute to the felled Sycamore Gap tree, has now sold over 2,200 prints in just four months – with Lucy establishing a fund to help create a legacy woodland. And her commitment to encouraging art for all children has seen her develop a programme of free access resources for schools that follow the key stages of the national curriculum.

Lucy Pittaway is one of four finalists in the business growth category of the Stray Ferret Business Awards open to businesses based in Harrogate or the surrounding area that have seen significant growth in the past three years. The winner will be announced at a glittering awards dinner to be held at The Pavilions, Harrogate on March 14.