ONE of Cornwall’s most popular contemporary artists returns for a major solo exhibition at Lighthouse Gallery next month.

Another View is a new body of work by Gemma Pearce, whose distinctive still life paintings have captured the imagination of many.

The exhibition will run June 8-24 in the Penzance gallery, which has a reputation for showing work by some of Cornwall’s most accomplished artists, all of whom are inspired by their surroundings and artistic heritage in this part of the world.

Gallery co-owner Christine Weschke, said: “Gemma’s work always draws lots of attention and we’re really looking forward to hanging the new collection of paintings. We would recommend any keen collectors to schedule a visit early to avoid disappointment.”

Since moving to Cornwall in 2000, Gemma has developed and polished her instantly-recognisable style; carefully-composed interiors featuring details such as jugs and vases, flowers, pebbles and feathers, juxtaposed with typical coastal scenes viewed through windows.

For this exhibition, views of Cornish seascapes and harbours have been extrapolated from real and imagined windows around Gemma’s home-patch of Mousehole, Newlyn and Penzance: “I like the contrast between the ‘pretty’ and the industrial. The two coexist happily in Cornwall’s working harbours,” explains Gemma.

The deceptively simple pictorial arrangements are in fact the result of meticulous hours of trial and error in her home studio, until Gemma arrives at a finely balanced composition.

Her muted colour palette of greens, blues and greys, occasionally enlivened with a pop of colour, doesn’t break the spell; each still life is a masterclass in understated poise.

In Gemma’s work, domestic simplicity becomes imbued with poignance and a soft light is shone on the small details and stolen moments which give life its richness and intensity.

This sense of cultivating a space – physical and intellectual – for nurturing the self, is perhaps why Gemma’s work has won such a strong following over the years.

To find out more, visit www.lighthouse-gallery.com