AN equestrian artist's work so impressed an unknown South African couple that she was given an all expenses paid trip out to paint their pets.

Miss Jo Campin, of High Coniscliffe, is back from Constantia on the Western Cape where she and her partner, Mr Jonathan Hoyle, spent a few weeks living in the lap of luxury at her patrons' home.

In between painting the dog and two cats belonging to Jeremy and Vanessa Hindley, she lounged in the garden, swam in the pool and was treated as an honoured guest.

"Mr Hindley was away for two of the weeks we were there, on his third trip around the world this year visiting friends," she said. "His wife was wonderful to us and we became firm friends.

"We had a cottage in the grounds of their palatial home and I would sit in my studio looking out past the pool and through a banana tree to Table Mountain.

"I would paint in the morning, have lunch, a sleep in the garden and then would have a dip in the pool. In the afternoon we would walk the dog and go out for dinner with someone in the evening.

"We went to the Durbanville races and also spent some time at their holiday home and went out to Hermanes to watch the whales."

Her bubbling enthusiasm is a far cry from her initial reaction when she received the invitation last year

"About five years ago I did a lot of work for Jack and Linda Ramsden, race horse owners down at Sandhutton.

"They have a fantastic home and one of their rooms was lined with my paintings.

"Racehorse people seem to have contacts all over the world and the Hindleys, who are friends, saw my paintings on a visit there."

When she received a letter asking her to go out to paint their pets, she was very wary.

"It was a fantastic letter, but I didn't believe it. I thought 'You don't get anything for nothing in life. Why would anyone want to head hunt me when they have so much money they could have anyone in the world?'

"But a year later they still wanted me to go over, so I accepted and it really was everything that had been promised."

Even better from a professional point of view, she discovered that the couple had friends out there whose names sounded like a list from the Who's Who of the sporting and social world.

One of them is Monty Roberts, the so-called "horse whisperer," who lives in Kentucky.

"I now have some wonderful contacts and hopefully I will be going back to South Africa next year to do more work. This could be a ripple in the pool."

Miss Campin, who originates from Felixkirk near Thirsk, is even more remarkable because she is completely self-taught.

"I definitely inherited the talent from my mother's side of the family. I have always been able to paint and draw and got As for art at school. I could just see how things were and put them down without a problem.

"I used to think other children at school weren't trying because I honestly thought anybody could draw. It wasn't until I was older I realised I had a particular talent.

"As a child I painted birds every spare moment I had. I was fascinated by Archibald Thorburn, the Scottish wildlife artist of the early 1900s, who painted grouse and pheasants.

"He was a watercolour artist and I studied his techniques and used them to develop my own. I still refer to him and he has been my inspiration and my only teacher."

She also has a passion for horses but it wasn't until four years ago that she managed to acquire her eight-year-old coloured mare, Charity.

"She is a real all-rounder. I have just done my first endurance ride on her of 28 miles and she is also good at dressage and show jumping.

"Horses and dogs - I have always loved them. I had my first German shepherd when I was 17 and a few generations of them since then."

When she gets a commission for a pet portrait, she goes to see the owners and the dogs and takes a series of photographs before embarking on her expressive paintings.

"This time of year I am just so busy. People sometimes telephone in November or December to see if I can do a painting in time for Christmas. Really they should do that in August or September.

"With pets it is mostly for another member of the family and I have had to get used to the whole thing having to be shrouded in secrecy."

Some people may think water colours are a bit delicate for such hearty subjects as horses and dogs.

"But you do get very strong pigments now and you have to build up the transparency in layers, especially for something like a black Labrador. You have to be a bit of a control freak with watercolour, especially for eyes and fur. But the advantage is that it dries very quickly while oils take months."

Mr Hoyle is an apprentice farrier at Eppleby, whose parents live at Low Cleaves Farm, Sutton under Whitstonecliffe. When he qualifies in two years' time, his job will take precedence.

"We would love to go out to Kentucky, where there are lots of horses he could shoe and I could paint.

"If we could stay for two or three years and get some money behind us, we would like to come back and buy a really nice place in the country where Jonathan could set up his forge and I could have my own livery yard.

"When I can devote myself to my own painting I would love to have a studio where I could produce big backlit skyscapes."

But she added: "I wouldn't like people to think I am just full of airy-fairy ideas. For the next couple of years horse and dog painting is my bread and butter."

Anyone who wants to get in touch with Miss Campin can telephone her on 01325 374996.