Artist Christine Groh has gone all out to break the traditional moulds of watercolour painting in her exhibition at the "Ascot Art Gallery" this month.

Groh joins artists Jan Bimrose, Donna Cains and Rhonda Cao in the eclectic exhibition, Women of Fire, which will show until the end of the month.

Re-entering the art world five years ago, after retiring from the corporate sector, Groh said she had been steadily regaining her aptitude for painting with vibrant colour.

"I like to have fun so exaggerate colour and shapes. I do base my cityscapes on real life places, but they're exaggerated," Groh said.

"That's what I do a lot - take artistic licence."

Groh said her love for vibrant watercolour developed after taking an art class on painting flowers.

"I painted landscapes, learned more about colour mixing and how to apply watercolour. Then, one day, I met another artist who informed me of a workshop and that the teacher had said we are going to paint flowers today," she said.

"I was totally captivated because flowers have so much character, and you can put a lot of expression into the painting."

"I love irises. They have attitude, and I love poppies because you can use lots of vibrant colour when painting them."

Women of Fire is on display at the Ascot gallery until November 28 2005.  Phone 3868 3582