Well known artist Sheilagh Head, admitted last year as a member of America's oldest art association, has had two of her works accepted for one of their major annual shows.

The Copley Society of Boston, founded in 1879 and which boasts Monet, John Singer Sargent and James McNeil Whistler among their early exhibitors, selected her `Peppercorn Garden' and `Searching for Green' for the New Members' Show in their Newbury Street Gallery.

"Yes, I feel very honoured that I was invited to exhibit, to be part of a great art institution that is truly international, entirely unpoliticised, and which recognises art for art's sake,'' says Mrs. Head. "On a personal note, there's a feeling that I am literally walking in the footsteps of `the Master'. I have always loved the way in which Whistler painted the spirit, rather than the reality of what he saw around him, so there is a lovely sense of continuity -- the recognition that, as artists, none of us work in a vacuum.'' With only ten percent of all applicants accepted through competitive review by fellow artists, she joins the 700 professionals from around the world who belong to the Society named for Boston's (and America's) most famous 18th century artist, John Singleton Copley. The Society was founded by the first graduating class of Boston's School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Prominent members have included Frank Benson, Edmund Tarbell and William Paxton.

Mrs. Head, educated at the Manchester College of Art and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia, Italy, has already exhibited in New York, London, Madrid, Hong Kong and Luxembourg. The Copley Society exhibition continues through September 12.

`EAST BROADWAY' by artist Sheilagh Head, will be on display at the Windjammer Gallery next month.