Zimbabwe-born artist Barbara (Bee) van Blomestein will exhibit paintings and drawings at the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg from October 26 to November 21.

When living in Mutare with her husband she became involved in theatre design and décor. She later joined the staff of the Mutare Museum as technical officer in charge of display and after that, took up a similar post at the Queen Victoria Museum in Harare. After completing her BAFA degree through Unisa, she emigrated to Hilton in 1983 where she started painting seriously under the guidance of Lindsay Page and, more recently, under Isabella Quatrocchi.

She is concerned with formalist issues, tone, texture and quality of mark and brush stroke while some of her works move towards a minimalist form. Man-made waterways such as lonely farm dams - and recently the old quarry at Hilton with its structured quality - reflect her attraction to environmental sculptures. She is particularly interested in the idea of transparency and the distortion of reflections on the surface of water.