A gallery of talented local artists will be displaying their creations in shop windows around Diss from Monday.

Almost 50 shops and nearly 20 artists are taking part in the Waveney Springs Art Collective's annual art trail this year, which runs from August 6 to 31 and features work produced using a variety of media, including watercolour and oil paintings, printing, sculpture and textiles.

Among the artists taking part is Art in Shop Windows newcomer Ivan Clark, 68, from Kenninghall, who has works on display in the windows of Photo Elite on Market Hill, Purple Door Vintage in Cobbs Yard and in Amandines Caf� Restaurant in Norfolk House Yard.

'It's a wonderful initiative,' said Dr Clark, who has recently returned to painting full time after many years teaching at the likes of the Royal College of Art and the Slade School of Art and is a council member for the Guild of Railway Artists.

The rich depth and colour of his paintings he achieves using the gouache (body colour) technique, which uses oil pigment with gum arabic as the fixing agent.

Other artists include Bobbie Watchorn (sculptures), Becky Whatley (clay portraits, rugs, watercolours), Sheila Volpe (nudes and figurative painting and drawing), Peter Knights (landscapes in oils), Susan Adcock (watercolours and pencil drawings – mainly flowers), Jill Sharpe (textiles), Isabel Coe (watercolours and mixed media – water, boats, sky, landscapes), Frances Beasley (paintings, linoprints, textiles), Ben Platts-Mills (sculpture), Dee Evans (mixed media paintings/abstract collage), Ann Roy (wood, metal, mesh and colour, and photography), Kim Marangon (creative knitwear), David Mitchell (watercolours – miniature landscapes and seascapes), Jacqui Petrie (mixed media), Liz Waugh McManus (sculpture in kiln cast glass), David Whatley (ceramic, wood, stone, bronze, iron) and Silke Shelenz (printmaker and watercolours).

The Waveney Springs Art Collective was formed in 2008 so that artists living and working within about 10 miles of Diss could share ideas, give workshops and exhibit as a group.

A map of the trail is available from Diss Tourist Information Centre, the library and the shops.

The art trail is the pre-cursor to the Open Studios event, which starts with a taster exhibition at Diss Corn Hall Gallery from Monday, September 3, to Saturday, September 15. The Open Studios event is on the weekends of September 15-16 and 22-23, when the artists will be happy to talk about their work, inspirations and methods.

For further details, visit www.waveneysprings.co.uk