It's not inappropriate for Home to pay homage to Valezquez by replicating peasant faces from Bacchus and his Companions (1628), as this artist approaches the subject of portraiture with similar intentions as the Master; to find inspiration from everyday life and to go beneath the facade to paint an honest interpretation of the subject.

In these modern times we like to think portraiture has come a long way since the Spanish Court of Philip IV. Yet to be able to produce a good painting, one that captures both likenesses of the sitter - the outer physiognomy and the inner personality - as well as reveal something of the painter's own humanity, offers the same challenge in this century as it did in the 17th.

Home meets that challenge. He draws the structure of the head, paints the light on surface planes of the face, captures the nuances of individual features, illuminates the underlying mood or character of his subject, then infuses the image with his own aesthetic to extend it within his craft. The result is a statement of respect for both the sitter and the painting.

For example in Susan Pensive the sitter's eyes are downcast, she doesn't seem to acknowledge the presence of the artist or the spectator or the existence of anything beyond her own thoughts. We respect her reverie. Then there's Jaqui on a Warm Night where the painted glow of the skin matched the glow of perspiration on those present in the gallery. We could all relate to Jaqui's depletion of energy on such a hot evening. By far the most captivating portraits are the three depicting Peg Reminiscing, where this mature woman welcomes us into her world. We wish we could hear her story as her animated face and clear blue eyes tell us it is an honest and, no doubt, humorous episode related without any dramatic extrapolations.

Meeting the artist's friends in this manner is just one level of appreciating the work in this stunning exhibition. Another aspect of visual satisfaction is realized as Home continues to pay homage to the Master by employing dramatic dark hue and displaying a full understanding and control of his medium.

Home recognizes that any portrait is first and foremost a painting and so he plays with light, shadow and shapes in his figures, dances with his medium and leaves areas of the linen surface bare. In the more powerful works like Strong Woman's Head, where the same subject is represented three times, the artist half conceals faces with marks of bituminous black while in other instances he separates expressive dark figures with a painterly abstraction in rich colour. The triptych Stone, Girl, Blue World is a well executed image that holds the eye as it activates the mind. The juxtaposition of these disparate objects provides an opening for contemplating the image as a painting as well as a portrait.

If you like powerful works, interesting faces, enigmatic imagery and an experience that will ignite your passion for good painting then do see this exhibition.