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AWESOME OBSERVER OF FRAGILE BALANCE – MELROSE ON HOWE STREET

Submitted by Editor on

A new exhibition of paintings by Janet Melrose will open this Saturday at Bon Papillon on Howe Street.

'For me, Janet is an awesome observer of the small things that can sneak past your notice,' writes Ingrid Nilsson; '... tiny animals, half-remembered noises and feelings, fleeting stories that we can all recognise.

'These pocket narratives and memories are presented to us in gloriously simple fashion – no spare ornamentation or flourish to distract from the communication of truth.

'I was recently reminded by another artist that our medieval ancestors believed birds to be the souls of the departed; Janet's birds have that kind of magic. A kind of wonder suffuses the images, revealing the simple spirituality we can have in conversation with the nature that exists at the margins of "our" world.'

Nilsson's own work  – moustaches possibly decked with boughs of holly (see Spurtle's 13 September Facebook post)– will go on show at her 15 Howe Street café/gallery/studio from 16 November until Christmas Eve.