The drawings of a child are vital, lively and spontaneous. As we move towards adolescence they become stiff and self conscious and at this stage many people lose confidence, abandoning drawing and painting as a form of expression. For many of those that progress further, realism (colour, perspective, and representation) is mastered.

Picasso maintained that it took him "four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." For some artists, this need to recapture the vitality, spontaneity and truth of childhood expression and description leads them to 'deconstruction' and perhaps 'abstraction' and hence to apparently effortless descriptions of the self (an emotional reaction to the subject in hand) or visual (and perhaps more detached) descriptions of the external world are created. Psychologist Rollo May maintains that "in all creativity we destroy and rebuild the world, and at the same time we inevitably build and reform ourselves" and it is this sense of construction and reformation is particularly apparent in the works of Miles Heseltine whose work is executed spontaneously and quickly, and in such a way as to allow other shapes and structures appear subconsciously, woven into the rhythm of apparently effortless brushstrokes that so eloquently express both form and feeling.

Paul Wadsworth's creativity, on the other hand, suggests an extemporaneous innocence and energy, its apparent naivety belying the complexity of observation and expression present in his work. This is evident in his elongated forms and, particularly resonant of childhood drawings, is the figures' tiny heads, necks and shoulders, running together and the way in which clothing takes the place of the body. In "Mother and Child in the Garden" the vibrant palette is emotional rather than representational, and the entirety of the painting combines to create an iconic and profound expression of love and joy.

Simon Stooks' rendition of the French landscape ("Autumn Stubble" and "Patchwork Fields with Teasle") also have an innocence in their flattened perspectives, lilac and pink palettes and a brevity and simplicity of expression that is both descriptive and evocative of a much loved landscape.

Similarly, in the Falmouth Art Gallery Collection, Tom Early's unaffected and apparently artless representation of a church and monument is depicted with seemingly haphazard juxtaposition of elements which have no apparent regard for the space in which they inhabit. Simply described by line and a palette which is again emotional rather than logical, a powerful sense of place is nonetheless conveyed.

For many of the artists in this collection 'effortless' brushstrokes are used to create an impression, rather than attempt to make a literal representation of their subject. Impressionism emphasises the depiction of light and its transient qualities which are typically expressed in bright and varied colour. It is also associated with taking the act of painting out of the studio and into the modern world, and depicting ordinary everyday activities and objects as subject matter rather than the traditional religious, historical and portrait painting.

Typical of this 'effortless' approach is the sense that artists such as Sarah Wimperis, Andrew Tozer, Robert Jones, Ted Dyer and Neil Pinkett, all of whom say just enough, knowing instinctively when a perspective has been captured and light, vibrancy and movement are effortlessly expressed. Paint is applied using small, visible brushstrokes of pure unmixed colour to achieve the effect of intense colour vibration as can also be seen in the works of Melville, Arnesby Brown, Frangwyn and Thomas in the Falmouth Art Gallery Collection, amongst others.

Perfect examples of apparently effortless creation include: Sarah Wimperis' "The Sun it Shines" which resonates with the richness of a late afternoon sun, a peaceful interior effortlessly described; Robert Jones' "Sheep and Cherry Tree" depicts with masterful facility a darkening day, the wind in the trees and fleeting light patterns glancing amidst the leaves; Ted Dyer portrays the peaceful glow of a summer's evening at the beach and Neil Pinkett's work is a lyrical rendition of reality. His paintings seize the form and frame of the familiar, illuminating the commonplace, and bear witness to a changing world.

In his work, Miles Heseltine draws on the thought that De Kooning likened abstraction to Lewis Carol's Cheshire cat when the smile remained even after the cat had vanished. Apparently effortless in its simplicity, a tendency to abstract, seeks purely the essence of what is to be expressed.

Chris Rigby draws inspiration from Cezanne's "direct honesty" in his own sense of enquiry into the nature of things stating that "through paint I explore the world of familiar things...through direct observation I question my perceptions." His masterpiece, "Cut Throat Rock", derives from a commitment to paint physically outside of his comfort zone, and in all weathers. For Chris, "the world is in essence abstract and needs to be understood in those terms," and Chris states that he "seeks a freedom of brushstroke that allows the paint to speak its language."

Benjamin Warner's versatility as an artist and colourist sees form edging up to abstraction, particularly at the edges of the day, expressed with painterly impasto and with apparent informality. John Raynes, meanwhile, seeks out the abstract forms within the world around him and it is the objectivity of the mathematical or geometrical shapes that compels him. Technical mastery is the hallmark of his work: from canvas and pigment quality to the balanced precision of the composition which bears witness to a lifetime of achievement.

This exhibition showcases many paintings which have been created with apparent ease. Painting may seem effortless, but it comes as a result of a lifetime's commitment to expression - either of themselves, or the world around them, or usually both - through the medium of paint.