YOUNG artists at Kelly College were thrilled to hear that their artwork, based on the natural world and inspired by the paintings of French artist Henri Rousseau, will be exhibited at Paignton Zoo until February 11.

The Year 9 pupils, aged 13 to 14, took a trip to Paignton Zoo last term to inspire their project, which involved creating mixed media pieces, inspired by Rousseau.

Zoo educator Catherine Addison said: 'Kelly College came to us for a teaching session, as the students were undertaking an art project on Henri Rousseau. They then spent time sketching and taking notes.

'We were impressed by their behaviour and engagement, so we asked if we could exhibit their work.'

Kelly College art teacher Netty Holwill said: 'Rousseau's best known paintings depict jungle scenes, even though he never saw a jungle, or even left France!'

Head of art at the school Mandy Stokes said: 'Paignton Zoo has an informative and friendly approach towards education, whether it's conservation based or, as we discovered, enhancing school art projects. The students took away much more than they had anticipated.'

The exhibition is in the entrance hall at Paignton Zoo and contains 36 pieces of mixed media work and is free to view. For more information go to http://www.paigntonzoo.org">www.paigntonzoo.org or visit http://www.kellycollege.com">www.kellycollege.com