A TALENTED Oldbury artist has been chosen to showcase his paintings at the new pop up art shop in Sandwell.

Kris Whoosh, aged 47, rediscovered his love for art last year after putting down his paintbrush for two decades and  now produces portraits of famous people at a prodigious rate.

The pop up art shop in West Bromwich opened this week and will be exhibiting local artists work until March 18 and is aiming to fill part of the void left by Public which was closed by Sandwell Council last year.

Kris said: "I am over the moon to have my work on display at the pop up art shop as people can look at my paintings at their own leisure and even buy them.

"The pop up art shop is a wonderful idea and I am proud that I was picked alongside other great artists and designers to showcase my work in Sandwell."

As well as paintings there is hand made crafts, jewellery and cards for sale by artists from Sandwell and the wider West Midlands.

Dee Patel, who opened the pop up shop, said: "It was a proud day when we opened on Tuesday because everybody has worked so hard to get the shop open on time.

"The work looks fantastic on the walls with a wide variety of local artists displaying , we’ve even managed to make the outside of the shop look more pleasant and vibrant."

He added: "We’ve also been helped massively by some of the local organisations we approached including Wilkinson, Tesco West Bromwich, Poundland and also Learnplay Foundation who have given us some fantastic young apprentices, who they work with, to help us run the shop.

"We’ve had a brilliant response from the local community too, with many visitors on its first day and a lot of positive comments, so thank you all."

The pop up art shop is on West Bromwich High Street and is open 11am-4pm from Tuesday to Saturday until March 18.

For more information about Kris Whoosh visit www.kriswhoosh.com.