WOMANSTANLEY exhibits usually appear and then disappear in an instant.

The Warrington art collective have had three one-day pop-up exhibits in three years and the temporary nature of their displays is all part of their DIY spirit.

But the female-led group admitted that they are excited about hosting two month-long exhibits as part of the Contemporary Arts Festival from September 30 to October 29.

'Betty’s Hotpot' at Warrington Museum is like a retrospective or ‘best of’ from Womanstanley's three previous exhibitions.

The artists will also be at the Pyramid for 'The Making of Muriel', a sneak peek at their first away exhibition.

Muriel, which comes to Warrington before opening at the Assembly House in Leeds in November, will explore the notion of home under the housing crisis.

Hayley Reid, a member of Womanstanley since it launched, said: "I’m excited because it means we can now work together coherently in a way we’ve not been able to do before.

"With the pop-up shows we’ve had to throw everything on the walls and then rip it all down the next day. But with this we can work together over a longer period.

"It means a lot to us that it’s at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery as that’s been an important place throughout all of our lives and has inspired us. Hopefully this will pave the way for future opportunities."

It is a far cry from Womanstanley's first exhibition in a friend’s flat above The Brew House in Buttermarket Street.

Hayley, a former Woolston High pupil, said: "He hadn’t moved in properly yet so we moved what little furniture he did have out of there, put all our work on the walls, people traipsed through his flat all night and then we took it down."

The 2015 show was at Warrington Sports Club and there was an exhibition at The Auction Rooms in Legh Street last month.

Hayley, who works at the Padgate art cafe R' Teapot, added: "It’s always been a great night and people look forward to it.

"It’s snowballed as more artists have wanted to get involved each time."

Womanstanley formed when former St Gregory's High School pupil Sophie New met Roxy Ball at Leeds College of Art.

One of their aims is to create opportunities for young artists.

Sophie, from Stockton Heath, said: "I had felt that there wasn’t a creative platform in Warrington that included me.

"I had also witnessed the despair of artists in the town who felt excluded or felt the town was lacking in creative energy with people often leaving and taking their talents elsewhere.

"To me that seemed counter productive. What is the point in nourishing our children’s talents through school and college only for them to take them to another town or a city?

"It is important to move with the times, make something happen, get up and build something."

OriginallyWomanstanley was a female-only group with the name being a reference to a famous Hilda Ogden quote from Coronation Street.

When Hilda's husband Stanley asks what her lipstick tastes like she says: 'Woman, Stanley. Woman'.

Now there are more than 60 members, aged between 18 and 60-plus, of all backgrounds.

Sophie added: "Back then it was a ‘girls' thing’ because we knew a bunch of talented female artists from the area with no platform and we were becoming increasingly more inspired by female artists from the 1960s women’s art revolution.

"It was really exciting for us to have an all-girl talent show in the beginning because it was almost an ode to female artists who had gone before us.

"But we believe that exclusivity should not happen in a place where there is a myriad of diverse talent. Creativity should be nurtured, we should be looking out for each other."

DAVID MORGAN