21. Annabel Dover, (31/5/2020), (no links)

22. Natalie Dowse (31/5/2020), initial reaction, a mixed bag, two different types or styles of painting on exhibition in the six paintings. Between dog and wolf paintings are obviously part of a series, Woodland landscapes illuminated by car headlights, something almost Lynchian about them. The other are a series of closeup portraits with tears.

Artists statement: working from and using photographs often in a series but displayed randomly to construct alternative narratives and mark moments that are irrevocably in the past.

23, Fiona Eastwood, 2/6/2020, (no links)

24, Nathan Eastwood, (2/6/2020), his paintings are made on primed gesso boards using enamels. The source material for the paintings are snapshot photographs. A quote from the artist ‘I just want to paint life as I see it, everyday realism, the ordinary person (the proletariat) getting on with life, social realities” The images are often captured using his camera phone and the paintings have an element of photo realism but retain loose brushstrokes and include trapped detritus in the paint. I found that the paintings reminded me of the stylised, simplified iconography of punk, ska or two tone.

25. Geraint Evans, (4/6/2020), my initial thoughts on the six paintings that were on the Contemporary Artists website were that they were figurative studies which juxtaposed the figures against pre-historic images and cavemen. The paintings had the look of book illustrations. On the artists statement he refers to his styles as ‘stylised pictorial language’. He uses this to explore the idea that landscape is largely a social and cultural constraint.

There is humour and imagination in the paintings which are carefully constructed. From my perspective they lack visual interest beyond the initial focus. The work on the artists website was similar but had a wider vocabulary.

26. Susan Gunn (12/6/2020) my initial impressions, the paintings are about texture and tension. Cracks appear in jagged and flowing lines to create interest on the surface of the support. A range of materials is used to construct the paintings.

Curators statement extract: there is a subtle tension between the golden section formalism of their geometry and the unruliness of the free form cracking.

Artists website: similar work. many are monochromatic. When colour is used it tends to be a single colour perhaps a light and dark shade of the same colour.

27. Susie Hamilton (14/6/2020) fairly primitive style, loose painting technique, gestural, pared back palette colour, figures present in all paintings.

Artists statement: I paint figures in wilderness either a natural wilderness or a bleak, urban space such as a superstore or shopping mall.

‘iconoclastic’ painting method

There is an energy to the paintings which I like. The unfinished look I find challenging.

28. Alex Hanna (17/6/2020), initial impressions: monochromatic paintings oil on canvas or board. The titles suggest or indicate a subject matter that is, on first glance, not apparent. Paint applied loosely in a sculptural manner. Of the oil painting three are thick impasto works and three are more painterly in approach.

Artists statement: working on ideas based around the ‘ambiguous’ and materiality. Reductive colour system. Exploring the boundary between representation and abstraction and how the material qualities of paint become the subject.

Artists website: amongst the topics is a predilection for radiators, pill packs, incubators, linen, plastic bags and pillows. The works are about texture and tone, subtle tonal changes.

29. Suzanne Holtom (20/6/2020), surreal fantasy, mystical paintings, figure hiding, suggested, amorphous forms, landscapes with illustrative qualities, muted pastel colours set against drawn lines.

Artists statement: paintings are heavily influenced by mythology. For inspiration the paintings of Rubens and the landscapes of Chuck Jones (Wily Cayote and Roadrunner) have been instrumental.

Interesting ideas and shapes, flowing forms and colours.

30. Barbara Howey (22/6/2020), initial impact, gestural paintings, very loose application of paint which is allowed to flow and mix. I found that they varied greatly in quality and impact. Painting 1, circular support with rough blue and white cloudlike markings left me cold. (I did later learn the context of this painting which helped me to understand its meaning, I didn’t make me like it though. Painting 4, shown below, which felt like an abstract landscape I enjoyed. The flow of the the paint, the receding horizon line and the vibrant but limited palette all come together to give a pleasing composition.

Artist’s statement: Past three years her work has concentrated on the human destruction of the landscape brought about by the effects of industrial waste, fracking, agrichemicals and solar radiation management.

Artist’s website: I enjoyed most of the paintings in particular a number of the figure studies where I found her approach and style fresh.

• Exhibitions