This year's Swindon Open Studios will be held over the weekends of 20 and 21 and 27 and 28 September.
The free event has become familiar to countless art lovers in Swindon and beyond, but more are always welcome and Rhona Jack is happy to let them know what delights to expect.
"The idea is artists in their own spaces, sharing details about what they do, what is the process.
"It gives people a sneak peek behind the scenes - it's lovely to be able to speak to the artists, to find out what makes them tick, what motivates them and the ideas behind the work itself.
"A lot of people are...not afraid of going into galleries but wary of going into galleries because it seems formal. This is far more informal. Lots of the artists offer tea and cake; some of them have beautiful gardens that people can sit in and chat. Ultimately, it's a family fun day out.
"I read somewhere that if you go to one of the big galleries, the average time spent looking at the picture you've gone to see - say it's the Mona Lisa - is probably something like 30 to 40 seconds. You're in a queue o people that are shuffling past.
"Our Chair, Anna Enwright, is always talking about the fact that in a cost of living crisis, what is better than a fantastic community arts exhibition that's free? Some people choose to sign up for workshops. If they do they have to book ahead and pay for the workshops, but going into the studios is free of charge."Not all artists have a studio - digital artists work at a computer if they're doing digital art. That's one of the reasons why we're having a few more venues this year than we did last year."
Great Moorleaze Farm at Wanborough and a room at STEAM will have artists who for one reason or another cannot bring people into their homes.
Artists of all styles have always been welcome to take part.
"Anybody can join in - it can be anybody from amateurs to professionals to hobbyists. We've got an embroidery group, we've got jewellery makers, pottery, mosaic glass - it's the whole range of arts and crafts - and in all styles. It could be contemporary, it could be abstract, it could be more traditional."
Full details of this year's programme, with regular updates, can be found at www.swindonopenstudios.org
Rhona is herself an accomplished artist who will be participating, and whose work can be seen on the website as well as her own site - www.rhonajackcreative.com.
She grew up in Southampton, where her father was an art teacher who also worked for Fleet Street newspapers.
"I used to watch him, and from the age of about four I had a sketchbook, laid on the floor of the lounge while the kids' cartoons were going on, and drew horses. I just drew nothing but horses!
"I had a passion for drawing them from an early age. I never sat on a chair in the lounge until I was about eight years old because I was always drawing! When I was at school my art teacher - I was at a different school - actually accused me of getting my dad to do my homework, which didn't go down very well!
"She hadn't taught us perspective, and I had drawn some rowing boats in very good perspective. The reason was that my dad had loads of pictures of the fishing villages around Kirkcaldy in Scotland where he grew up. He had given me a handful of lessons at home but he was always raising the bar!"
Rhona's art studies at school included A-Level success but later, as she puts it, other matters took precedence including motherhood and a successful career in marketing and public relations which continues to this day.
She holds a degree in International Marketing, and early roles included a significant position with the Mexican Government. She came to Swindon to work as the first ever promotions assistant for the Oasis Leisure Centre, and played a major role in overseeing its success during what came to be regarded as its glory years, during which the centre won national awards and so did the promotional materials devised by Rhona.
Her work included the launch of the fondly-remembered Domebusters, which took the annual swimming visitor count from half a million to a million. Rhona attributes her success in the field to her desire to see and tell the human stories behind mere facts and figures.
Her re-involvement in art stemmed from a period of ill-health, during which she became involved with an art group run by local therapeutic organisation Ipsum, details of whose work can be found at www.ipsum.care
Early works included paintings of a cat, a unicorn and a cheetah, and Rhona found that her love of painting animals was as strong as ever.
Now working in watercolour, acrylic and ceramics, she has pieces hanging not just in Swindon and the rest of the UK but also at locations in the US, Spain and Poland.
Rhona also accepts commissions for pet portraits.
"When you're in a healing process it's very therapeutic to do painting or drawing or any craft activity. It takes your mind off your problems and you just get absolutely engrossed in it. Time passes quickly and you forget the world outside and all the issues!"
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