Michael Kirkbride: “The paintings in this exhibition have all been made from observation.
The challenge of developing a visual shorthand to pin down the ephemerality of each encounter is the driving force behind them.
I find the demands of scrutinising the visible world with temporal constraint both an exciting and joyous experience.
Each painting is symbolic of time and place in which many personal memories and nuances are held”

Judy Gilley: “I enjoy sketching when out walking, but I don’t find that painting ‘en plein air’ works well for me. Painting from the scene immediately before me, I became too literal. I prefer to absorb the image but then work in my studio mainly from memory. Taking time to absorb a landscape means that colours and shapes not noticed originally begin to emerge and influence a later painting. These new paintings are all inspired by Derbyshire which I have painted repeatedly over the last eight years. They are of ‘special places’ with myriad memories”