PAINTING, pottery and sculptures will be among the local creations decorating venues around Bicester this month for Oxfordshire Artweeks 2018.

Throughout this month, artists will be flinging open their doors and opening their studios to show off their own handmade creations to mark the occasion.

The annual festival runs each year across the county to give people the chance to find unique artwork and speak to the creators behind paintbrushes and tool kits.

Among this year's exhibitors will be Bicester Sculpture Group which, after running for about 20 years in the town, says artweeks is a the pinnacle of its exhibition calendar.

Each year the group of artists, who often take up their hobby alongside work, come together to show off a mix of creations using different techniques and ideas at the George Muller Studio behind the Old Vicarage in Church Street.

Group leader Mick Waterhouse said: "This is the culmination of a year's work in the studio; it is what we work towards every year.

"It is a lovely group of people bouncing off each other, passing ideas around – we all learn from each other.

"That's what it is all about."

Bicester Sculpture Group has about 16 artists showing their work for artweeks both inside and outside the studio in the gardens.

Mr Waterhouse will be showing off his wood carvings, including an oboe player who he was inspired to create by a golden-haired lady playing in an orchestra he saw recently.

He added: "We have such a wide range of work to see, there is stone carving, welding, plaster work, and the artists have been using the kiln this year to create great clay work plus lovely animal sculptures.

"We have covered all bases."

The Bicester Sculpture Group throws open its doors on Saturday and will continue its exhibition through to Sunday, May 13, from 10.30am to 4.30pm each day.

Elsewhere, bold and colourful paintings by artist Abigail Boiscot – known for her equine studies – will be on display at Standfield and Hoole cafe in Market Square.

For more striking views of intense bold colours, printmaker Alexandra Buckle will be showing 50 views from around England including local scenes of Bicester and Stoke Woods.

She will be welcoming visitors to her studio at 71 Bucknell Road.

Over at The Manor Country House Hotel at Weston-on-The-Green, textile artist Barbara Shaw will exhibit sculpture and wildlife paintings, plus her 'paintings' created with many scraps of fabric stitched into layers to create collages.

For times or more venues across the county see online at artweeks.org

Oxfordshire Artweeks runs from May 5 to May 28 with a particular focus on North and West Oxfordshire up to May 13.