The Norwich Print Fair

CHRISTOPHER SMITH

> St Margaret's Church, St Benedict's Street, Norwich

The Norwich Print Fair is celebrating its first decade with an attractive and varied show of work. It is also offered at very reasonable prices, and though some of the pictures would command quite a lot of space, there are plenty of others that would fit into any home.

Laurie Rudling's little etchings of bare trees, outlined against a blue sky, for instance, repay close attention. Fragile and calm in the still air, they convey an air of great serenity. The same is true of half a dozen woodcuts by Cordelia Jones.

Small, very closely observed, the tiny record of a Derelict Hot House at Holkham, for instance, has visual intensity, with a great deal of precise detail put to good use. Though black and white, the images also seem remarkably bright.

Colin Bygrave captures twilight rural scenes with a touch of gentle melancholy. The mood is livelier in H J Jackson's linocuts. Fascinated by the shape of boats and their gear, he is at his very best in Red Flag Markers. What he records is realistic, yet what he sees is vivid colour and intricate pattern.

Bronwen Edwards, too, sets out for familiar everyday sights. Imagination, though, gives her different perspectives as the shapes are singled out, jumbled and then rearranged. The delightful, slightly whimsical effect is reinforced with a muted pastel talent.

It's good to see two examples of prints created by pupils from Paston Sixth Form College. Darlene Daniels, for example, responds to the shapes of a tumbledown shed with a remarkably assured line and texture.

The show continues until September 24 with open portfolio days on September 17 and 24.