Dr Maria Edith Burke will have her artwork displayed at the Royal Academy of Art's annual summer exhibition in London.

Her work is inspired by photographs from her travels around the world and reflect events of every day life.

Maria said: "My work can be characterized as both primitive and ethnic.

"It's strongly influenced by my interest in different cultures so I use vibrant colours to reflect the magical contrasts and brightness of the landscapes.

"The underlying aim of my work is to represent various life stages; each painting almost always includes children playing, young girls enjoying life, chatting, people undertaking local traditional craft work and older contented couples."

Maria, who is a senior lecturer at the University of Salford, started painting when she was 16 and had immediate success when she was chosen for exhibition at a local art gallery.

Maria has gone on to produce a number of styles of artwork including oils, acrylic, pencil and charcoal.