ON JULY 28 it will be 150 years since Beatrix Potter’s birth.

Best known for her much loved children's books, she was also a botanist, environmentalist, businesswoman and as a farmer championed the Herdwick sheep.

Beatrix is without doubt the fabulous flavour of this month, what with the world premiere of the Where Is Peter Rabbit? musical adventure running at the the Old Laundry at Bowness, and the excellent Armitt Museum at Ambleside hosting Beatrix Potter: Image and Reality, which invites people to explore the life of one of the most iconic and influential figures of the Lake District in new depth.

Not forgetting, the National Trust celebrating BP's birthday at its many esteemed attractions across the Lake District with a huge amount of activities.

When she died in 1943 Beatrix left an amazing legacy of land and property to the care of the National Trust to ensure that future generations would continue to enjoy the countryside.

A fresh exhibition running at Kendal Museum aims to show another side to Beatrix Potter.

To mark the anniversary, the museum is staging Beatrix Potter’s Inspiring Legacy. It's an exhibition of artwork which inspired Beatrix Potter and artwork which has been inspired by her, while also exploring her scientific legacy as a fungi expert and sheep breeder.

The exhibition - put together by highly thought of freelance curator Jamie Barnes - contains five main elements: Beatrix’s personal collection of paintings by artists she admired, loaned by Kendal Town Council, some original Potter illustrations of fungi from the Armitt, contemporary work by artists who are inspired by Beatrix Potter, a display regarding her work as Herdwick breeder from the University of York and illustrations by children from Kendal's Heron Hill School.

Artists exhibiting includes award-winning graphic novelist Bryan Talbot with artwork from his 1994 Potter-inspired A Tale of One Bad Rat.

"Bryan kindly lent us 12 pages of original artwork from the novel for this exhibition," explained Jamie.

Jamie said that to celebrate 150 years since Beatrix Potter's birth, Kendal Museum and Kendal Town Council wanted to hold an exhibition and approached him to lead the project.

“Kendal Museum has a great reputation in the field of natural sciences, and this informed our ideas for the exhibition. Beatrix Potter’s legacy as a children’s author is well-known, but we're focussing more on her scientific achievements in the world of mycology and farming, as well as showing her effect on contemporary artists.

"Beatrix Potter proves to us that with enough determination and inspiration, you can become an expert in more than one field."

Jamie managed to get some of the region’s most eminent artists onboard: "I selected seven artists I knew were inspired by Beatrix Potter to contribute to the exhibition and we were lucky enough for them all to say yes."

Each artist was asked to submit between two and four pictures each.

As a result, Ulverston artist Casey Allum produced large highly detailed pencil studies of animals; Duddon Valley's Sally Bamber has contributed vibrant paint studies of flowers found in Beatrix Potter stories, and Beverley White created delicate linocuts of fungi for the exhibition.

Carol Klemperer produced paintings of animals and archaeology; Victoria Clare Gray has painstakingly put together meticulous pen and ink studies of fungi and rising star of the art world, Daniel Cooper, turned his skilful hand to paired down contemporary Coniston fell line studies in charcoal.

Last, but certainly not least, leading wildlife and birdlife artist Fiona Clucas worked her magic and created paintings of Mr McGregor's garden and Herdwick sheep.

Beatrix Potter was a true visionary.

Determined and ambitious, she overcame professional rejection, academic humiliation, and personal heartbreak, going on to earn her fortune and a mighty reputation.

She is one of the world’s most cherished children’s authors, with her most famous creation The Tale of Peter Rabbit having sold in excess of 45 million copies globally since its initial publication in 1902. Today more than two million of her little books are sold annually worldwide, and Peter Rabbit has appeared in books and products in more than 110 countries across the globe.

A century and a half after her birth, we celebrate a truly remarkable woman.

Beatrix Potter’s Inspiring Legacy runs at Kendal Museum until October 8, Tuesday-Saturday, from 10am-4pm.