ARTWORK created by students at City of Oxford College has gone on display at a Banbury cafe.

Student Kitty Giles, from Banbury, was offered the chance to display her artwork at Naomi’s Cafe after staff were impressed by her creative talents.

But rather than fill the Bridge Street cafe with her own artwork, she invited her coursemates from college to display their own pictures as well.

For the exhibition Mrs Giles – who uses Kitty Frilling as her artist’s name – told students to pick one of their pieces which they felt best represented themselves.

Each picture, including several self-portraits, was created by someone in the class during the last college term.

The 27-year-old said: “It is quite rare for people on the course to do their own independent exhibitions. When I was offered the chance to display my work in the cafe I wanted to get the rest of the students involved.

“For those wanting to go on to university it’s great thing to have on your application and CV. A lot of my work is made using pen and ink and it was good for us to display different styles.”

The exhibition was unveiled at an open evening on December 18, which also featured the cafe’s regular open mic night.

Mrs Giles said: “I’ve produced quite a few bits of work and I thought it was only fair to let people pick which one I was going to display.

“People have been really positive so far. We’ve had some nice comments in the guest book and we’ve had people coming from quite a distance including family, to come and see what we’ve done.”

After graduating from college, Mrs Giles is hoping to study for an arts degree at Oxford Brookes University, before becoming a freelance artist.

Naomi’s Cafe owner Naomi Perkins said: “This is very much a space where we want people to express themselves, and Kitty is a major part of what we are doing here at the cafe.

“It was fantastic when she agreed to put on the display with the students, and we know she has had good feedback from the tutors on her course.

“The pictures have been well-received in the cafe – they are very interesting and expressive.”

The exhibition will remain on display at the cafe until later this month.