Visiting The Stone Gallery, Burford, is akin to walking into an Aladdin’s Cave full of beautiful hand-crafted jewellery. At the moment, a splendid collection of 60 brightly coloured paintings adorns the walls too. They are the work of African-born Allie Ridley, who now lives in Shipton-under-Wychwood.

Allie says that her art springs from her Zimbabwean rural childhood. Extreme short-sightedness meant that she often saw the African landscape in which she grew up as a kaleidoscope of blurred textures shot through with brilliant splashes of colour. Now that she lives in England she occasionally evokes a little of the misty coolness of the Cotswold hills, but most of her paintings reflect the colours of Africa.

Allie works in acrylics and mixed media, beginning each new picture by creating the textures that she hopes will dominate the work, only adding layers and layers of colour and thin acrylic glazes when she has got the texture right.

While she has given some pictures a title, most are untitled (including the one above) as she does not wish to impose an interpretation on those viewing her creations. She says her paintings are whatever the viewer wants them to be as she has no fixed ideas about how they should be seen and understood.That said, she has called one large, vibrant canvas on which a golden star streaked with red, jumps out of a rich blue background, Pow. Those viewing this picture will understand why. They will also realise why another similar work is called Little Pow.

Although one or two pictures follow a similar idea, there is no one particular style that dominates. The pictures vary in size, style and texture, each part of a process of exploration and experimentation – the only thing they all have in common is the glorious array of colours that dance on the canvas.

It’s the uncertainty of the abstract form that excites Allie, who says uncertainty pushes her into decision making and problem solving as she tries to create order from chaos to obtain an harmonious whole.

Her work will remain on display at The Stone Gallery, High Street, Burford, until the end of the month.