In the last decades of her life, Inge Clayton fell in love with the card game bridge. It suited her personality, a combination of random chance and careful strategy. For many years she played every week, sometimes several times a week. She played well and played to win, sometimes describing herself as an addict.

In 2006 she made her main project the painting of a complete set of playing cards, to be produced as a double set for very special games of bridge. Two hundred and eighty double decks were printed by Richard Edward, and were self-published in December 2006. They were already selling well when a friend suggested she should make it a limited and numbered edition too. By that time she had only 150 double decks, of which just ten were made into a special edition in a presentation box with a silk lining.

The colourful designs show us an artist who is clearly an active participant in the party scene – only a frequent visitor of clubs and parties can distinguish the poses from the unveiled emotional expressions that go with the territory. Good artists must be keen observers, and Inge Clayton brings this combination of experience and observation to the cards in a brilliant way.