Professor swaps stars for art

Sandra Chapman will spend two months in Antarctica

A science professor from Warwick University will be swapping her teaching role to take up painting in one of the world's most remote regions thanks to a unique award.

Sandra Chapman, who lectures in Astro-physics, has spent all her working life as a scientist, studying Space plasmas, meteors and comets.

But she has now won an award of £38,000 to enable her to spend two months in Antarctica to follow her dream of being an artist.

Her trip is being funded by NESTER Dreamtime, an organisation that aims to enable people to work in a completely different field.

'Express ideas'

Ms Chapman will be pursuing her first love of art when she goes to Antarctica next year.

Although she is an experienced traveller, she says her journey will be the trip of a lifetime.

Ms Chapman told the BBC's Midlands Today programme: "It is very important because it is so unusual.

"In your life you have to choose what you are going to do. Very early on, I had to choose between art and science and I chose science.

"I do not regret that at all, it has been wonderful, but really I have never had the chance to try out what it is like to work as an artist and express ideas as an artist."

She added: "This is a unique opportunity for me to do that."

Ms Chapman's work will be exhibited at the University of Warwick on her return.