Building on the success of an exhibition last year at Prime Gallery, Cheryl Ruddock will show her latest body of work that again presents her interpretation of her natural environs.  Nature has continued to be a profound source for Cheryl and in this exhibition she has turned to the "bigger picture", namely the landscape itself.  Previous exhibits have featured aspects of flora and have been a preoccupation in her past three exhibitions (2000, 1998,1996).  Here in this exhibition There came a Wind: recent oil painting Ruddock has been inspired by Canada's mighty rivers and has used maps as a source, as well as her many experiences kayaking in Temagami Park and other sites.  The exhibition title references a poem by Emily Dickinson.

Ruddock's forte has always been colour, texture and image.  The resulting marriage of these elements produces paintings that are lush, intense and wonderfully atmospheric.  Whether working with gouache on handmade, Japanese paper (1998, 1996) or oils on canvas (2000, 2001), Ruddock first prepares a ground for the image by laying down many layers of colours.  She then reveals, by scraffito or scratching through the many layers, her particular subject matter that "lurks" below the surface.  In an additive and subtractive manner she produces these luscious images that make her style distinctive.  Because of the heavily impastoed oil paint surfaces, that are a result of the layering, she is able to create paintings that have more of an object quality than the mere illusionary veneer of paint on canvas.

This exhibition will be a stunning display of saturated colour and texture, the perfect antidote from the dreariness of the winter that seems to not want to leave.  And we will have Cheryl Ruddock to thank, for bringing these rich testaments from her water experiences into our lives.