?STRANDS of Colour?, an exhibition of new paintings by Sue Ward, is at Monks Withecombe Gallery, Chagford.
Sue Ward was born in Malaya and spent her childhood there and in Australia, before coming to England in 1963.
For many years she enjoyed painting her immediate surroundings ? a scrapbook of her home and family life. Her collection of china, postcards and memorabilia all found their way into the still lives she painted, and which she regards as a visual diary. Using her kitchen dresser as a ?set? on which to arrange her compositions, the decorative patterns of flowers on pottery are juxtaposed with a bunch of fresh flowers.
From this interest in pattern and colour developed less figurative, more abstract compositions that allude to a landscape or setting, but without the usual depth indicators of space. It is the underlying patterns and colour that form the basis of recent paintings.
?Having for many years painted still life, interiors and landscape in an illustrative style, I am now exploring a looser, more abstract approach creating imaginative and atmospheric landscapes. I enjoy the creativity of balancing colour, line, shape and mass ? free from the demands of three dimensional illusionism,? she said.
The exhibition opens on Sunday and continues to Sunday May 30.