AN ARTIST with a city centre gallery has used the lockdown period to create a new piece of work in honour of the NHS.

Mark Braithwaite, who often sketches outside York’s St Michael Le Belfry Church in 'normal times', is raffling off prints of his latest work in aid of NHS Charities Together.

The special edition, Rosebud, Sing a Rainbow, is the 42nd in his popular Rosebud series, modelled on his daughter as a young girl at an easel drawing a rainbow - a symbol of support for the NHS.

Mark and his wife Anne closed their Braithwaite Gallery in Low Petergate in March, but are preparing to reopen in June.

Anne said they might wait for a few days until after June 15 to see how busy the city centre is and what safety measures other small businesses have in place.

York's challenge for introducing social-distancing measures is the high number of businesses which are in small, historic properties.

"What's our unique selling point in York is now causing huge limitations," said Anne.

"People need the confidence to go and shop. That isn't going to come on the first day. I think a lot of people will do shorter hours or days to test the water."

The couple promoted the raffle for the new Rosebud print through The Press Supporting Local Businesses campaign.

"Mark is hand-signing each of the charity prints," said Anne. "It is nice to give something back. Everyone is trying to do their bit."

The charity raffle for the original artwork runs until June 28 via the charity fundraising site Zaffo.

Prints are also available online at www.yorkartist.com for £12, with £5 of each sale, until the end of June, donated to NHS Charities Together.

There are two sizes of prints available.

For details about the raffle, visit https://supportnhscharitiestogether.zaffo.com