Two very different exhibitions in two unique venues provide interesting viewing to art appreciators who can't make it out to the suburbs for the regular fare. Thank heavens for these open venues and artist co-operative galleries, they add flavour to the taste of art in this town.

The three artists involved in Intersections offer work representing five years of development. One thing that's immediately obvious is how the artists, each in their own way, have grown in strength and understanding of their own particular style and approach to subject matter. It's refreshing to see this development as it displays how even the weaker works can contribute to the whole exhibition.

Vuleta's earlier smaller works are interesting for their texture however there is a sense of compression as the abstract imagery strains against the edges of the surface. Her later larger works have a smoother surface and the colour key is heightened suggesting a spiritual expansion, one that will continue to grow, even beyond the unframed surface of the work.

Hurst gives us strong faces, abbreviated to an almost cartoon quality in their flat volume and linear definition. It's the interesting colour combinations in sharp contrast that give her subjects strength. We are offered very little in the way of identity, yet each face is an individual. We begin to superimpose people we know onto the mask to personalize the image.

Sioulas is able to combine futuristic fantasy with ancient myth to create a gothic world all her own. Drawing, design and colour is employed with confidence and skill so the viewer feels safe to journey through this mix of imagined iconography. Her Minotaure evokes ideas of ancient Crete, Greece and Egypt together with modern tattoo design, beautifully. But I prefer the simple red and black non-figurative Crucifixion where the paint and the surface, minus any imagery, speaks volumes.

At the other end of town you'll find Laurie Smith's collection of colourful paintings derived from suburban spaces and rural places. Smith's work goes beyond the visual stimulation of the surface as he considers the whole construction of the image. When viewing these works we soon discover the abstract pattern that underpins the scene. For example, in Guilderton we easily identify the subject then go on to note the ideal placement of geometric shapes, both positive and negative, and the balance of clear colour in sky and foreground. Then too in Verandah not only is the eye drawn to the splash of pink beyond the trellis, but the perspective and dark rectilinear objects guide us through a sense of familiarity, so we're easily led into the composition. It's refreshing to fine art that is built on something more then just idle thoughts.

While most of Smith's works are strong compositions, one can't overlook those works that seem to have gone straight from the eye to the canvas. Some of his more sketchy images would be lost if it weren't for the bold use of colour. Paintings like Bayswater and Cow Paddock hold our interest purely by their strength and clarity of colour.

After examining Smith's exhibition, stroll around the open plan room and check out the other artists' efforts. Their finished and unfinished works on easels, pinned to the wall or tossed on a work bench all make for an interesting foray into creativity.