26 February - 2 March 2008

10am - 5pm

Informal Gallery Talk: Thursday 28 February at 12noon

Janette Jagger marks her 70th year with an exhibition portraying her love of the coast, her love of travelling, and her lifelong love of painting.

Born far from the sea at Broken Hill in the Australian desert, "a mining town in the middle of nowhere", Janette spent her early years in a landscape of hot, bright colours. These colours have left a permanent impression, infusing all of her art work with a vivid palette. From an early age, trips to the coast were special to Janette, and it's no surprise that it's now an enduring theme in her work.

Throughout her life she has travelled and exhibited widely, painting the people and the landscapes of Brazil, Europe and Africa, as well as the South Hams, where she has now settled. Painting the holiday makers on Bantham Beach has become something of a tradition for Janette, and she is well known for her charming paintings of Devon and Cornish fishing villages in inks, watercolours, gouache and acrylic. Paintings of Cornwall, which is starting to feel a bit like Janette's second home as she travels around in her camper van, will be a particular feature of this year's exhibition, alongside paintings from her most recent travels: France and Spain.

"New places inspire new ways of painting," explains Janette, and she allows the scene to dictate the medium and the technique. After a few years' break, she has taken up her oil paints with renewed vigour, finding their colour and texture perfect for local scenes in Devon and Cornwall. Watercolour, too is ideal for some of these coastal paintings, particularly her series looking down on the boats in the harbour at Mevagissey. "Not the posh boats," she says, "but the ones with more character."

Acrylic paints, meanwhile, were just right for the fiery red earth of the Australian desert, while gouache offered its light, chalky quality to the bright daylight of Brazil.

Harbour House 2008 ©