DOZENS of artists around the county will be inviting the public to visit their homes and studios next month, in an annual celebration of their work.

The Surrey Artists Open Studios event is returning with a full-scale programme, after being scaled back by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

In its 21st year, 286 artists working across many artforms are taking part at 162 locations, including some nearby in neighbouring counties.

From Saturday 5 June to Sunday 20 June, they will offer the public a great opportunity to buy artwork and browse displays of paintings, photography, ceramics, glassworks, sculptures and jewellery.

The artists will be greeting and meeting their visitors and available to talk about their unique styles.

Works by Horsell photographer Diana Uzun and Woking glass designer Joanna Lloyd will be on display at the Oko:Art gallery, which is in former garage workshops on the A3 Guildford Bypass.

Diana says her work is driven by her twin passions of the natural world and the arts. She has won the prestigious Surrey Photographic Association’s best nature picture twice, and her recent work reveals her concern about climate change and the catastrophic collapse of insect populations.

Her other interests include in-camera creative photography and image development techniques.

Joanna designs and makes kiln-formed glass, specialising in casting. She uses nature and the environment to create textured relief glass sculptures and functional pieces. Her work encompasses delicate floral and geologically referenced cast glass sculpture and tableware, and mixed fused glass items.

Potter Charlotte Doe works with porcelain at her studio in Heath Drive, Brookwood, which will be open at weekends. All her pieces are thrown on a potter’s wheel and decorated using a range of slips and glazes.

Charlotte’s jewellery, sold under the name Circle and Dash, is made from exquisitely detailed papers that are hand painted, printed and gilded and available as gifts to purchase from the shop at The Lightbox in Woking.

Hanna Bruce is an award-winning fine art painter working at the Lansbury Business Estate in Lower Guildford Road, Knaphill. Her artwork is in a range of mediums, primarily oils, resin, ink and pastels.

Ceramic artist and digital print maker Elaine Coles says she enjoys taking advantage of the Surrey Artists Open Studios to bring an awareness of her work. It will be on display at her studio in the former Barclays Bank building in High Street, Chobham.

Elaine’s early inspiration came from French provincial pottery, its earthy shapes and lead glazes, and her work has gone through several evolutions in glazing and surface decoration. Her artwork includes jewellery, and she has recently developed her own style of digital prints on fine art paper and aluminium.

Caroline Small, a member of the British Society of Master Glass Painters is based in Clappers Lane, Chobham. She specialises in modern stained-glass images and her latest creation, Coronavirus in Glass, replicates the structure of the beautiful but deadly virus.

“We need to respect the destructive power of nature that can bring the world to a halt,” said Caroline, whose studio will be open at weekends.

Fiona Wheeler, a botanical artist whose highly detailed pictures capture the beauty of nature, will be greeting visitors to her covered garden in Coldharbour Lane, Pyrford.

Fiona, a fellow of The Society of Botanical Artists, is inviting visitors on Fridays and weekends, but is happy to accommodate requests to open at other times.

Sculptor and photographer Brigitte Goirand has been exploring the painting method of Encaustic at YMB Studio in Hollybank Road, West Byfleet. This wax-based technique goes back to ancient Egyptian and Roman times.

Brigitte welcomes visitors to her covered garden, where metal sculptures, installations, resin and acrylic paintings will be on display.

* For full details of the artists taking part, locations and opening times, visit www.surreyopenstudios.org.uk