The Volunteer Centre in Rabat, my place of birth, is fast becoming a popular exhibition venue. Xaxa (Charlene) Calleja's sixth solo exhibition, Passing Through, is being held there. Her last exhibition Evanescence was held at the newly restored Casino Notabile last summer, two weeks before her younger daughter, Stella, was born.

The centre is in Bartolomew Street, a narrow beautifully paved street with mostly small well-restored homes. One gets the feeling that the owners really care for their houses and their street. There are plants and creepers outside and on windowsills. Walking through I felt I was in old Malta, the real Malta I had grown up in.

Xaxa's pictures are mostly displayed in two rooms. There are studies of heads, landscapes and floral arrangements, and abstracts. This building has plenty of light and a courtyard. It has not been over restored as so many buildings often are.

I found the studies of heads most interesting.  They are not quite finished and are enigmatic. Xaxa tells me that yes, although they are of no one in particular, "they have generally been inspired by an image and the impression it gives me."

We move to the next room where there are landscapes and floral arrangements. Xaxa was born and lived in Canada until the age of 13 when her parents decided to return to Gozo, their home. She did her primary and secondary education on our sister island. She is well travelled and as we move from one landscape painting to another she speaks to me of her love for the Aeolian islands but especially Lipari. Some of the landscapes in the exhibition were inspired by these islands which she has visited twice. So far. It seems that Neptune always calls her back. The vibrant blues she uses are truly captivating. She comments: "Yes, but they are a moment in time, fleeting." However, fleeting or not these paintings convey sunlight and warmth. "You cannot recapture that moment again." That is life. All is fleeting. Like life these paintings are tenuous and fragile. Fastidious attention to detail has been avoided. It seems to me that the elimination of detail is a conscious choice. Her paintings are never over done. Nothing is slavishly reproduced. Xaxa knows when to put down her paint brushes.

Most of the paintings are marked  'Untitled'. "I like the 'audience' to decide for themselves and interpret the paintings the way they want. Unless the title comes to me while producing the work I see no reason to force a title onto a work."

The abstracts come next. They are mostly an exploration of a mood or feeling that she had. Well, as far as I am concerned, abstracts are abstracts. Read what you like in them. I would simply urge you to feast your eyes on the display that is assembled in this room.

Xaxa always had an interest in art. "As a child you want recognition. At school in Canada, I was very much influenced by the environment. I once did a charcoal drawing, Snowy Owl. This drawing was very well received and the Education Department sent me a letter of appreciation. It is from there on that I had an inkling that I could pursue art."

After her Matric she went on to read History of Art at the University of Malta. By this time she had dropped painting and went on to read for a Masters in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester.

In 2006 Xaxa decided to take up painting again and started going to classes at Jason Lu's Studio, then a very popular art teacher on the island. "He taught me the academic way of painting and drawing, the Bargue way." This method teaches artists to see distances, lengths and angles.  It builds up skills in a logical way. "It's a very meticulous way of drawing," says Xaxa. "It is rigid but helps you to have good eye co-ordination. Everything is measured. It is there in your background even if you choose not to use it." Jason Lu also helped and inspired her to develop her personal style.

She likes Japanese art best of all. "You can convey so much feeling in that one brush stroke."

Once home I contacted Mauro Pace Parascandalo, himself an artist and CEO, Malta Council Voluntary Centre, and asked him about the Volunteer Centre. "This is managed by us and was opened in 2017. An old town house was converted and equipped with all the necessary facilities for the organisations to be able to carry out their work." In 2021, following the COVID-19 pandemic, MCVS felt that this space could be further utilised by launching a new initiative which had a dual aim, firstly to assist Voluntary Organizations with a much needed fundraising initiative. Secondly this initiative would help artists and photographers to exhibit their works in this space, which has been well adapted for this purpose. "We are asking that a minimal commission would go to a Voluntary Organisation chosen by the same artist, Mario explains.

A last comment from Xaxa. "Our existence is moment to moment and I am trying to capture a moment in time in my paintings before that moment disappears. I am trying to portray the intensity of my feelings in the works before that feeling fades away."

The exhibition is going to be open until Saturday 13 May. 15% of sales will be donated to Puttinu Cares.  For further details contact [email protected] and www.xaxacalleja.com

[email protected]