TRACES of reality and the element of surprise are featured in the work of Pickering artist Jim Orme, who is exhibiting in his first solo show at the Backotheshop Art Café in Terrington this month.

From vast lines and patterns in landscape to the intimacy of a handprint on a cave wall, traces are left everywhere and very often they are the only evidence left of existences and activities the meanings of which, in some cases, are lost in time.

“A colour or combination of colours, a texture, a form, a division or conjunction, anything that registers as a possibility that can be dealt with through painting – the inspiration for my work comes from everywhere,” said Jim, who was head of fine art at York College until 2009.

“They are secular mysteries that do not demand that we abandon logic in an attempt to understand them.

“They exist as stains or scratches, unlikely combinations and juxtapositions that somehow have developed a beauty and presence of their own.

“To me they are mysterious, but they are also keys, keys to themselves but perhaps, more importantly, keys that help unlock myself. It is these ideas that intrigue me.

“Whatever instigates a series of work is not taken literally; there is no attempt to reproduce anything.

“The original is just a touchstone that ignites a set of ideas and though never entirely lost it more often than not remains as a resonance of itself.”

Jim’s work attempts to convey the emotions he experiences when contemplating these phenomena.

As a result, a piece develops over a considerable length of time and is subjected to numerous processes until it reaches a point when it assumes a life of its own that not only carries the original idea, but also has that essential element; the unexpected.

“It is this possibility of surprise that keeps me returning to the studio where sometimes the last thing that you should do turns out to be absolutely right,” he said.

“Each piece for me is a journey; it enables me to visit places that no travel agent could ever offer.”

Jim says that although his work can conveniently be described as pure abstraction or even minimal, it is in fact quite the reverse.

It does not involve the paring down or emptying of the canvas, it is more a process of addition rather than subtraction.

Jim’s exhibition Traces runs until March 26.

The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-4pm.

For more details visit www.backotheshop.co.uk, email ian@backotheshop.co.uk or phone 01653 648530.