Great view of Venice by Alan Stenhouse Gourley. He was an inveterate traveller in Europe and South Africa where he painted en plein air. His paintings are always fresh and exciting.

Art is all about simplicity, a few lines, a few swirls... But to make it work you have to be good. And the semi-abstracted realism of Norma Jameson is beyond good.

Chippenham Museum have purchased 3 oils by British artist Doreen Heaton Potworowska for their permanent collection. Doreen studied at Corsham School of Art in the early 1950's where she met her husband to be, Polish artist Peter Potworowski.

This original 1950's Picasso print is sadly water damaged but still a lovely, rare find.

One of the best exhibitions I have been to in some time at the Tate Britain. Aftermath shows through art the warring nations response to the horror of the Western Front, the cessation of hostilities and the onset of peace.

Visting the Winter Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair at Battersea Park last month I was intrigued to see how the exhibitors would showcase their antiques furniture, collectable and decorative arts to the modern market which has in recent times focused on the Swedish aesthetics of clean lines and minimalism. 

After purchasing this stunning oil painting by Ethel Wright ROI,  I discovered something very interesting about it which I completely missed upon first looking but has changed the whole mood of the painting for me.

This picture was exhibited in London c.1999. It was painted by theatre designer Thierry Bosquet who is has designed costume and sets for over 200 opera and theatre productions mainly at the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie, where he was the principal decorator for twenty years, He has dedicated his life to the study of opulence and his home is a shrine to ornamental overload. The level of technique in this picture is staggering and is a fantastic decorator's piece.

I recently purchased this etching from the family of Raymond Fawcett executed in 1964. It's title is 'Events in the day of a typist's life'. One struggles to find the events in the events the title suggests. There is a view of a woman dressing (or undressing), what looks to be a keypad of some kind but the other symbolic references have defeated me so far.

All of that though does not matter. It is a fabulous, enigmatic picture that makes you think which is exactly what art should always do.

This oil on paper abstract still life was painted in the late 1950's when the artist was living in London. The arrangement of shapes and forms draw you into the painting and the colours make it exciting and vibrant.