A NEW contemporary art exhibition featuring paintings by Mary Elizabeth Jolley is currently running at the Gallery at St. Brides Hotel, Saundersfoot.
This Welsh-born painter divides her time between her studio in Cardiff and home in the Lot Valley in South West France.
Mary's work embraces many subjects from rural village life in France, to lovers huddling on a Cardiff street corner, but all her paintings are unified by her distinctive use of shape and colour and the overall texture and depth of her work. This is particularly exemplified in her studies of Southern France where her work captures the unique colours and atmosphere of the region.
"For me the paintings have a strong emotional content and capture the sensations of the moment in a way a photograph or a representational painting never could," says Mary.
"I am particularly moved by the sky's light and colour, which in the South of France ranges from turquoise to the most intense blue. In Montcuq, the houses are built from local limestone and the variation of blues and greys continue to be an enduring image in many of my pictures."
Her bold and distinctive style is much admired and her paintings are to be found in many private collections around the world.
The Gallery is open every day and the exhibition runs until May 28.