5   THE ART OBSERVER The abstract art of Lisa De Prudhoe Lisa De Prudhoe began her paint- ing career as a promise to herself for her 30th birthday. Basing herself in the Republic of Panama, where she was born and brought up and lived until May 2000, she has participated in several national and international exhibitions. Though like many artists she struggled for the first few years, she has now firmly established herself and her very individual style in private and public galleries in Panama and the United States where she frequently has sell-out exhibitions. She has lived in England for the last few years. Lisa is a contemporary abstract constructive painter. This school of painting was created in Russia in 1913, constructivism being loosely defined as a type of totally abstract art wihich is usually minimal, geometric, spacial and architectural. Some of the exponents of this style of painting in this country are Victor Pasmore, Ben Nicholson, Anthony Caro and Bridget Riley. Visiting Lisa’s huge, light studio in Eccles is quite an experience. Her prolific output adorns the floor and walls: in the main, very large canvases in strong but subtle colours. Using acrylic paints on canvas, Lisa builds up layer upon layer of paint, sometimes as many as forty, to achieve her trademark technique. Standing away from the canvases, one gets an over- whelming idea of the scope of the work and an appreciation of the geometric elements and their relationship to each other, to the space around and between them and to the canvas as a whole. Close up, however, the elaborate, painterly textures come to life and one can appreciate the detail and perfection of each brush mark. Looking at and buying abstract art rather than representational art can sometimes provoke a few questions. Just understanding the piece may pose a challenge. Questions like “what does the artist mean?” and “what is this supposed to be?” may spring into mind and, of course, these are not easy questions to answer. With Lisa’s paintings, what matters really is that we simply enjoy the piece for its own sake. The shapes and colours, the textures and proportions all work so well together that one cannot imagine any other juxtaposition. Like a perfect word in a poem or note in a piece of music, whilst we don’t know why they were chosen, we do know on a very instinctive level that they just feel ‘right’, and so it is with Lisa’s work. Lisa De Prudhoe is planning a solo show at the Wendy Levy Gallery in Didsbury, as well as an exhibition in Panama. She is one of the few artists working in Manchester whose work is selling on a global scale. “Within the last few days Lisa has received some pleasing news.The Habitante Gallery in Panama have sold the six pieces they were exhibiting and have asked for another four paintings for their Xmas show. Prada gallery in Washington D.C. have also asked Lisa for five paintings for their Xmas show. Without further ado, the paintings have been packed off and, no doubt, will not be coming back!” SPANNING THE GLOBE December 2005 Brush up your finances Let us brush up your finances so that they are in harmony with your needs and the world in which you live. GAEIA can help you plan for a more secure future using companies that are ethically and environmentally sound. Contact us for an independent review of your pension, investments, a competitive mortgage quote or any other area of your finances. We have been in South Manchester for over 10 years and have advised hundreds of clients in that time. Global and Ethical Investment Advice THE GAEIA PARTNERSHIP 1 The Arcade, 829 Wilmslow Road, Manchester M20 5WD Tel: 0161 434 4681  Fax: 0161 445 8421   Email: office@gaeia.co.uk  www.gaeia.co.uk The GAEIA Partnership Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) GÆIA Contact: Ed Johnson Mobile: 07973 614661 Land Line:  0161 614 1947 Email: premierphotographics@orange.net