NINE members of St Albans Art Society hard at work greeted shoppers at a city centre book store on Sunday.

The first-ever Local Artists Day was to draw attention to the range of art books at Waterstone’s in St Peter’s Street and the St Albans Art Society summer exhibition at the nearby Dagnall Street Baptist Church Lower Hall.

The nine members worked in rotation to show how they paint with watercolour, acrylics, wax-resist and spatter. Visitors were urged to have a go and many did.

As well as paintings, Super Mario was taking shape in mosaic and children’s names were written out in calligraphy.

Sean Farrell, Waterstone’s manager, said: “Every time I looked people were chatting to the artists. The atmosphere was great – working together like this creates visibility for us and the art society.”

The exhibition runs until Saturday and is free of charge. Among the works on display will be Piazza della Rotondo, Rome, painted by Dacorum artist Mitzie Green who was the winner of the coveted Terry Biggs Cup as the best in show.

Mitzie also won a commendation for her entry in the St Albans Trophy which is awarded for paintings that capture the character of St Albans in an original way.

Mitzie said: “I am excited and honoured to have taken the trophy and commendation and this result will spur me on for more experiments.”

A local artist who trained at St Albans College of Art where she obtained her degree in painting and print-making in 1996, Mitzie has her own studio in Berkhamsted and is taking part in the Herts Open Studios event in September.