WHAT A fantastic achievement for Ribble Valley artist Isobel Peachey.

The former St Augustine’s RC High School pupil has become the youngest woman to have painted an official portrait of the Queen.

She produced the three-quarter- length portrait after spending three hour-long sessions with the monarch between October and December last year.

Isobel’s picture will be hung in the new giant cruise liner the Queen Elizabeth, which will be unveiled by shipping company Cunard next month.

Isobel is recognised as a rising star of the art world. But this work should propel her career to a whole new level.

And it is wonderful for East Lancashire to have produced such a talented artist.

Former teachers in Billington said Isobel, who grew up in Sabden, was one of the most gifted artists to pass through the school and had an ‘extraordinary talent’.

She will now be an inspiration for current and future art pupils.

At present, there is a lot of doom and gloom, be it feared job losses or crime.

So it is great to celebrate something positive.

Isobel is only 31 so there will be plenty more to come.

For her, it seems the sky truly is the limit.