Painting is all about colour, mark making, texture and, if the artist is so inclined, making a picture. To some viewers, that last component is the most important, however to all good artists, the picture is incidental to the act of creating a painting. The abstract works seen here testify to the fact that Janet Yates is indeed a 'painter' as her canvases celebrate the power of colour, reflect her delight in making marks, layering pigments to provide tactile interest, and happily invites the viewer to join her in the sheer joy of the act of painting, as an artform.

These energetic compositions intrigue and delight. When you enter the gallery you feel energized by the exuberance of the work as seen in the frenetic brushwork of the colourful compositions. Then, as you begin to approach an exhibit you'll find yourself considering a number of possible 'scenarios', before getting right up close. That's when you realize any or all interpretations are acceptable. For example, one work called to me with its random, open-ended, curved 'patches' composed of red and white stripes floating through, and seemingly fighting with, similar cursive patches of blue and white. There were broad brush strokes in earth hues amid the swipes of stripes in blue and red. All I could think of was a vibrant footy game. But when I saw the title, A Fantastic Day! Walking the Dog, I could indeed interpret marked pathways, bush clutter and colour, a bright sky, shifting shadows, and a sense of playfulness. But it didn't matter what the 'subject' or the 'title' was as the exhibit exuded a strong sense of life, be it competitive or playful.

One has to appreciate how the warm yellow and red ochre hues dripping over 'bleached bones' set against a black ground in Hot in the Bush does indeed suggest the melting sensation of summer. And how the large triptych The Carnival is Over, that depicts a cool, serpentine river rushing through parties and pollution, reminds us how what we value, can easily slip away to be lost. But it was A Journey of Desire that called me back more then once. Here sweeping, almost sensuous, broad marks of warm hues seemed to create shapes that invite us all to enjoy the pulse of life, and love.

With her layers of pigment, sweeping brush strokes and selection of colours, Yates builds up her paintings and invites the viewer to find what they want or need in each exhibit. The artist asks us to engage with her work, to note that it is a 'growing' process, from first mark to final presentation, to know that each time the artist approaches the canvas the 'painting' begins again, and as such the work changes and grows until the brush is lifted off the surface. Once we recognize each painting is the artist's journey over the canvas, we can better appreciate the creative urge and the work of art as being more important then the 'picture'.

Paintings by Janet Yates suggest how swirling layers of paint can indeed reflect the energetic pulse of life. They also reveal the artist's understanding of colour, mark making, and texture, which are the components of a 'painting'. This is a joyful, exciting, beautiful collection of well produced works of art, paintings that are brimming with a sense of life.