Moon over Bath

When we were dreaming up a title for Her Indoor's exhibition late last year, I sort of insisted that it should be: 'Her Indoors - Paintings, Drawings & Watercolours', because - despite the fact that she only had a few watercolours to show which were done years ago, it sounded like a much classier title than 'Paintings & Drawings'.

"But I've hardly got any watercolours", she said, worrying that she would be advertising herself under false pretences. I told her that - technically - the title was correct, so she should stop worrying.

Of course, she didn't stop worrying, and set about painting some more of them as everyone else worked like mad to get the show (which comprised of over 100 pictures - most of them framed) together on time.

During this time, she re-discovered how much she likes the very immediate and speedy activity of using watercolour, and now the show is long over, she has been finding the time to produce more of them, and the bad photo above (which does not do it justice at all - sorry) is one of two that she made this week.

Normally, she spends weeks on one oil painting, but these - by necessity - have to be completed in one sitting, and I think she enjoys seeing results appear so quickly. There is always the danger with watercolour, that the painter relies on the 'happy accidents' that will always occur when flooding the paper with washes of thin paint, and lets structure and form go out the window as a result. What I like about these of H.I.'s is that - true professional that she is - she has never lost sight of the original vision in every one she has made. She has not hit a bum note yet, and I don't think she would ever let herself do so. Each one is a little jewel.

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