AN artist who has worked tirelessly for three years to achieve an art trail around Swanage is finally seeing her dream come true.

Painter and sculptress Carlotta Barrow had the idea for the project while on a trip to Dieppe in France and thought that the seaside resort’s strong links with artists of national prominence needed to be marked.

In the years since, she has worked to secure funding and now the project has taken another leap forward, after Swanage Town Council gave the go-ahead for two plinths to be erected, one at Shore Road and another in the car park overlooking Prince Albert Gardens.

Each location has been chosen because a famous work was painted there and each board will feature a biography of the artist and a copy of the painting so people can compare the real-life view to it.

Three boards are already in place, at Langton Matravers, Durlston and at Institute Road, and the two new additions will mark the halfway point in the project.

Carlotta said: “I’m really pleased, after three years, with the final decision. It’s brilliant. We’ve already had a site meeting and drawn up the plans.”

The final trail will hopefully feature at least eight boards and Carlotta added: “At last it’s coming together.”

The artist hosted a launch event at K’s café in Swanage in May and featured artists include Walter Field, Charles Conder, Paul Nash, Augustus John and Mark Gertler.

Swanage was home to a big arts movement in the early part of the 20th century. During her research Carlotta discovered that Paul Nash began his surrealism in the town in the 1930s, while Augustus John stayed in her house in 1901.