After Art in Shop Windows in August and an exhibition this month, talented local artists are now getting ready to open their studios to the public.

Members of the Waveney Springs art collective, who work with a variety of media, from painting in oils and watercolour to photography, sculpture, printing and textiles, are holding a taster exhibition at Diss Corn Hall Gallery until Saturday, September 15 (11am-4pm) – when the Open Studios Art Trail begins.

Artists will open their doors over two weekends – on September 15-16 and 22-23 – from 10am to 5pm, when visitors can see where they work and find out more about their inspirations and methods of working – and maybe even buy a work of art.

Among those taking part are Rebecca Douglass Whatley, 63, and husband David, 62, who live in Heywood Road, Diss. Becky does clay sculptures, woodcarving, printmaking, rugs, watercolours and oil painting, while David, who works at Diss High School, creates sculptures out of ceramic, wood, stone, bronze, iron and other materials.

Becky, who studied at the Philadelphia College of Art in America before moving to Britain in 1971, spent 23 years as an art teacher at Stowmarket High School and taught art to physically and mentally disabled people.

Asked what inspired her work, Becky, a founder member of Waveney Springs, said: 'Many things over the years, but recently I've gone through a phase of working with my smallholding and responding to what happens on it, and what's happening in nature.'

It is the fifth Open Studios event for the collective, which was formed in 2008 so artists living and working within about 10 miles of Diss could share ideas, give workshops and exhibit as a group.

Other trail artists include: Ben Platts-Mills (sculpture) in Coney Weston; Jill Sharpe (textiles), Carleton Rode; Dee Evans (mixed media paintings/abstract collage), Tibenham; Kim Marangon (creative knitwear), Great Moulton; Ann Roy (wood, metal, mesh and colour, and photography), Gissing; David Mitchell (watercolours – miniature landscapes and seascapes), Wortham; Peter Knights (landscapes in oils), Roydon; Silke Schelenz (printmaker and watercolours), Diss; Frances Beasley (paintings, linoprints, textiles), Bobbie Watchorn (sculptures) and Susan Adcock (watercolours and pencil drawings) in Mellis; Liz Waugh McManus (sculpture in kiln cast glass), Heckfield Green; and Sheila Volpe (nudes and figurative painting and drawing) and Isabel Coe (watercolours and mixed media – water, boats, sky, landscapes) in Weybread.

Brochures are available at Diss Tourist Information Centre, the Corn Hall Gallery and libraries. For details, visit www.waveneysprings.co.uk