There is always a limit to how far we can explain the success of a painting, or any work of art, by reference to techniques or ideas. That limit is where the magic creeps in. No work of art can be wholly described in words. We may try to work out what the 'trick' behind a particular painting is, but if we could see it, absolutely and conclusively... then it would not have worked.

Ruth Sallon's still-life paintings are not actually still-lifes at all, but entry points to a world seen through a curious child's eyes, before age and familiarity obscure our vision of things and robs them of their enchantment. Wooden toys populate a landscape of tablecloth oceans and floating tea-trays. Many of the still-lifes are painted in front of windows thus connecting the outer landscape to the inner one. There is a harmony of form, colour and motif that allows her landscapes to become, in a sense, extensions of her still lifes. Her paintings of London park landscapes share with still lifes the capacity to show us the magic we have forgotten in the familiar.

Ruth Sallon was born and raised in Neasden before she escaped to study painting at Edinburgh College of Art and The Royal College of Art. She lives and paints in another, better suburbia "somewhere between heaven and Woolworths". Her self -portrait may sometimes be seen lurking in the reflections of teapots from her 1950's suburban childhood.

Exhibition displayed until: 12 November 2009
Viewings: Monday to Friday 10.00am - 5.00pm