the International American Women's Club.

Now what that club stands for I have no idea. Do the paintings on display give us a clue? Well, not really but as the group's mission statement points out in the show's programme, the members of the International American Womens' Club are a group of women who -- though their abilities and talents may range across the board -- have a common interest in applying oil-based pigments to a piece of stretched canvas. Nothing more, nothing less.

That's the great thing about this exhibition -- there's no pretence (which is a compliment I can't pay to a number of `artists' here) -- sure, a great deal of what is on display is bad -- truly awful, horrific, laughable even, -- but at least it's not masquerading as something else.

It's just about a group of people who enjoy painting. They don't feel that they have a right to be called artists simply because they have enough money and time on their hands to go out and buy a set of Windsor and Newton beginners paints.

So what do you get for your free admission? Mainly flat, muddy canvasses, badly painted, badly drawn, ugly, boring, cliched. But the wonderful thing is that not all of it's awful.

There are some 70 odd exhibits here which, for the Edinburgh Gallery, means things are crowded. But amongst the dross are a few gems.

Perhaps the one painter who best sums up the whole philosophy here is Anne Steneker.

Now it may be deemed a bit cruel to knock an amateur who makes no pretence to greatness but... well lets be honest, Ms Steneker cannot draw or paint.

Canvasses such as `Sarah at the Beach' and `Ya Ya's at the Beach' give no trace of talent whatsoever. Sky and sea merge into a thick porridgy sludge, figures are crudely drawn, the composition is flat and naive.

This is clearly a woman who should go back to the basics before even attempting such an ambitious subject. She might enjoy her painting, but that's no justification for subjecting the rest of us to misery.

Or at least that was my opinion after seeing the first four of Ms Steneker's attempts. The fifth `After Monet' is an entirely different kettle of fish. A view of a Bermudian harbour -- perhaps a more challenging composition than her other examples -- the painting is broken down into some simplified shapes, the colours kept clean and brilliant. While the details may be a little amateur the canvass as a whole sang and shimmered and breathed with life.

There are a few other exceptions. Both Laura Rodriquez and Susan Aggarwal are accomplished pastel artists. Susan Connolly's flower studies are reasonably well handled while Christine Dowling's `Out of the Bunker' is an imaginative and original composition.

The show closes at the end of the week -- which seems a shame considering that the Edinburgh gallery will then be empty for a month. If you have a chance I recommend that you pay a visit.

Gareth Finighan ARTISTS ART REVIEW REV