THEY spent six years with an ocean between them, exchanging artwork across continents to keep their friendship alive.

When Noriko Suzuki-Bosco moved to Singapore in 2007 she began trading postcards with long-term friend Orah Bradshaw, and together the two have created an exhibition detailing their journeys over the time they spent apart.

No larger than an ordinary holiday photo, the postcards held samples of projects each artist was working on at the time, from sketches and sewing, to layering materials and crafts.

The two say they believe inspirations can be found in the everyday, and can be turned into something meaningful and special.

Now they want to share that with people in Winchester, their home city, at their exhibition Connections at the art cafe in Jewry Street.

It has interactive areas, including a wall-mounted canvas of St Catherine’s Hill, which has postcard-sized artworks by visitors pinned to it.

Former Peter Symonds student Orah, who also works as a therapist, said: “We have come from different places and different cultures but through our art we find things that we connect with.

“When we put it together it just worked. It is about taking things that have happened in your life, maybe traumatic or ordinary, and coming to terms with it through the work.”

Noriko, a former Winchester School of Art student, added: “It is a taste of a community art project that we want to put together.”

The duo, who met when picking up their children from nursery, now want to launch an art exchange, which would see people make their own pieces about what it means to live in Winchester, and swapping them with others to keep.

It is hoped The Exchange will launch next year, and the two are currently looking for a venue.

Connections runs until October 16, and entry is free.