Still Life, along with Portrait and Landscape Art, is one of the principal genres of Western Art. Of these, landscape is that which is traditionally associated with Beside The Wave. However, in the spirit of the season in which we retreat to the fireside, our January Special Exhibition features a series of still life paintings by gallery artists more commonly to be found at work in the great outdoors.

Robert Jones, Anne Marie Butlin, Emma Jeffryes, Phil Hogben, Simon Stooks, Paul Lewin, and Ashley Hold have all contributed to this celebration of Still Life. Still Lifes are composed of inanimate objects, often everyday things, skillfully arranged to reflect shape, light and shadow. As a genre, it became popular in the seventeenth century in the Netherlands and favoured subjects included fruit, flowers, wine, hunting trophies, or displays of luxury items, sometimes composed in such a way as to express religious or allegorical symbolism.

Robert Jones' collection focuses the classic still life subject of fruit; the compositions for which are exquisitely judged, his innate ability and highly skilled assessment and analysis of shape complemented by the fluent expression of colour tone and texture, which together create harmony and unity in his work. Richly coloured plums are grouped in and around a decorative bowl and as daylight falls across the arrangement, the play of light and shadow creates depth and dimension to the work. Similarly, in "Three Apples" a white bowl is bathed in luminosity, exquisitely framed by the shadows that surround it.

Anne Marie Butlin, too has painted fruit, but also flowers. Celebrating the beauty of exquisitely rich interiors, Anne Marie's subjects include nasturtiums and pears, roses, figs, anemones painted in amongst beautiful bowls, vases and crockery. A gifted colourist, she explains her approach as follows: "I paint mostly still-lives with fruit, flowers, ceramics, patterned fabrics and various domestic objects in still, calm interiors. I love the character of different flowers and the unique feeling they can create in a space; the strong structures and sometimes the sheer joyfulness of their appearance. Although I often use the same shallow format, I like the different possibilities of the still-life; using evocative objects and arranging the background colours in various ways - sometimes they can be quite abstract. My colours range from the subtle, with close tones, to strong and decorative. I usually use a strong base colour which I allow to show through in places; this gives many of the paintings quite a jewel-like feel. They are quite feminine paintings but they definitely have strength that comes from the boldness of the drawing."

In contrast to the rich palettes and deeply dimensioned paintings of Robert Jones and Anne Marie Butlin are the works of Simon Stooks and Emma Jeffryes, both of whom have worked with an altered perspective. Emma Jeffryes' paintings include "Still Life with Pink Bag", "Old Hydrangeas and Objects" and "Autumn Red Hydrangeas and Tea Cup." Again, the Still Life tradition of representing flowers and everyday objects is honoured; however, in Emma's work, the spatial relationship between objects has been compressed and they appear to sit within a single plane. Rich in palette, the deep reds and mauves of the flowers contrast to the deep blue of the walls and floors in a way that is both decorative and expressive.

Philip Hogben's "Farmyard and Flowers" is a delightful take on the Dutch tradition of fruit and vegetables which are laid out to ripen on the windowsill.

Simon Stooks, on the other hand works to an even more limited palette and depth of field is minimally described. Choosing everyday objects - paint pots, bottles and a Cornish cream jug are simply placed and painted. "Paint Pot and Jug" and "Two Paint Pots and a Bottle" see the objects and the table that supports them as one in colour and, form depicted in drawn simplicity.

Paul Lewin's Still Lifes are reminiscent of Morandi who described himself as "a painter of the kind of still life composition that communicates a sense of tranquillity and privacy" and, as with Morandi, Paul has painted 'pure forms', uncluttered by emotion and with no surplus detail. "Three Alice Gaskell Pots" celebrates the unembellished simplicity of the pots and their special relationships are wonderfully described. The palette is delicate and restrained: white pots on a white shelf on a grey-white wall to create a powerful and unified work of art. "November Rose" is similarly restrained, with the exception of the deep pink of the rose which stands out amongst the silver symphony of the vase and its surroundings.

Finally, Ashley Hold has taken the Still Life tradition of painting everyday objects into a twenty-first century dimension in choosing to paint televisions - objects which grace the rooms of nearly every British home. Placed in the corner of the room in which there is a plain wall, plain carpet and plain curtains, it becomes almost animate, soulful in the solitude of not being in use: a modern elegy to the art of Still Life.

To receive further information about the exhibition please contact Beside The Wave gallery@beside-the-wave.co.uk or 01326 211132. All paintings will be available to view on the gallery website www.beside-the-wave.co.uk from 27th January 2012.