The Mayor of Charnwood was presented with four prints when she attended a special art exhibition at Loughborough University.

Councillor Sandie Forrest was so impressed with the work exhibited by students from Loughborough and the town’s French twin, Epinal, that the students gave her the prints.

Councillor Forrest, who raffled one of the prints for one of her charities, said: “It was a pleasure to meet the talented artists from both schools and to see the beautiful pieces of art they have produced.

“I was very impressed by the sheer number of interpretations of the ‘Twin’ theme and am now the proud owner of three of the prints.

“I am very proud that a recent Twinning visit to France has resulted in a closer bond between Loughborough and Epinal students and I hope that this new link will inspire further collaboration.”

Councillor Forrest was one of two guests invited to the exhibition staged in the foyer of the Arts School by students from Loughborough University School of the Arts and Ecole Superieure d’Art de Lorraine-Epinal.

The other was Sam Arthur, director of Nobrow, the leading independent publisher of graphic novels and artist books, who gave a guest lecture on his firm’s work.

The exhibition was the result of links forged last October between Andrew Selby, Associate Dean for Enterprise at Loughborough’s School of the Arts, English and Drama, and Peter Allen, from Epinal, about how the twinning scheme could be represented through a joint project.

They opted for a project based on the theme of ‘Twins’ and students from both institutions were asked to design limited colour prints, inspired by the work of Nobrow.

Discussions are planned between the universities, Nobrow, Loughborough University’s Lamplight Press, and the twinning associations about how the project might progress in the future.