For Colquhoun, the 1930s and the 1940s were decades of development and discovery. In contrast, the 1950s was a decade of transition and low production. Between 1950 and 1960 there are years with no recorded output at all. It is true that in this time she published her two topographical books, but these were undoubtedly years of significantly reduced artistic activity. During this time her imagery underwent a profound change. Her works began to lose their power to disturb. They became less unsettling, less confrontational, more reflective and more lyrical. If the world into which she now invited the beholder had changed, it is because her own inner world had changed. By the end of the decade the artist was clearly a very different person to the one at the start of it. As judged by her images, she was less tormented, less aggressive and less strident. The sexuality, although still present, was less overt and frenzied.
During this decade she had only one one-person show. It was held in 1957 at the Gallery 1 and featured twenty-two works in watercolour or ink. The majority of them employed automatic processes. They reveal a concern with processes and events both natural and spiritual. Examples include Polarity (1954); the Life of the Pine series (1953); Embers (1957) and Water (1957).
In the event, this turned out to be her final show in London. During this period she spent increasing time in Cornwall, moving into a permanent studio in Paul in 1959. Alongside these changes, she began to develop an interest in new materials such as collage, found objects and enamel paint. These media gradually took their place alongside her use of the traditional painting media of oil, ink and watercolour.
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