It's raining and wintery and walking from house to car and driving are activities we want to avoid.  But if you must go out, then drive to Subiaco and experience a breath of warm fresh air and the splattering of sunshine to be found in the works of Margaret Rintoul-Zanetti.  There you will discover a whole new definition for the term 'refreshing'.

This artist has the ability to lay down bright colour with a free and confident hand.  A broad brush pushes the medium into shapes of high key yellow and green or blue and orange.  A finer brush dipped in black delineates petals, pears, vase or mask.  Then more marks are added which create a rhythm that fairly bounces, lifting our spirits to meet the energy of the image.

If you do get caught up in the colour and the pictures, don't be fooled into thinking Rintoul-Zanetti's work is merely eye candy.  The artist's charcoal and conte drawings reveal her keen sense of design and strong drawing ability.  These skills allow the artist to make a variety of patterns that not only catch the eye but hold the viewer's interest so we can investigate the image beyond its surface to find even more satisfaction.

Rintoul-Zanetti's drawings of birds' nests are excellent.  In each image, the simple subject is placed off centre while judicious use of black marks and blank white paper balances the composition, heightening the intricate weave of lines that constructs each nest.  They are drawn as they are built.  These images have an Oriental feel to them, perhaps because the simplicity of the subject and treatment found in these drawings are in strong contrast to the verve and vibrancy of the paintings.

I kept returning to the painting Small Tomatoes for all the reasons mentioned above.  Here small red tomatoes sit on a blue plate, defined by broad brush marks, located on the upper left of the blue picture plane.  The image is alive as curved blue on blue brush marks radiate from the focal point to develop into the breast of a blue bird here, the edge of a leaf there, another piece of fruit or just as celebrations of being curved blue brush marks. Very pleasing indeed.

Go on, pull on your gum boots and go out and see this exhibition, it will brighten your day.