Paintings

This year there were far fewer paintings which made an impression on me, but those that did were distinctive.  The first that wowed me was by Hughie O'Donohue: The Girl from Stellata.  It is a big piece and was one of the few which held its own in the chaos on the walls (although it makes a less than successful image on a blog!).

As ever Sonia Lawson's work attracted, and in particular her River Revisited. 

The muted colours, having to look hard to see the different animals and elements, the repeats, the patterns, the calm, the subtlety all made this a wondrous piece for me.  I was able to get up close and lose myself in it.
Ian McKeever's two gouaches on paper Portrait of a Woman 4 and 5 are lovely, but they lost so much of their effect amongst such disparate competition.  And although Anselm Kiefer's Bose Blumen attracted my attention and my recognition from the other side of the gallery, it too felt distracted by the surroundings.

My favourite painting is Mick Moon's Evening Fishing, which like the Lawson I was able to approach at eye level, and thoroughly delight in the subtle colours and delicate drawing on a sea of wood grain.
Although there were other paintings which attracted, these three reproduced here were the ones which gave me joy, and which may also have inspired me.