A bay grape leaf in pastel might have been Nicole Simons’ greatest masterpiece — if only her preschooler hadn’t smeared it.

Balancing motherhood and art can be tough.

Ms Simons had to start again on the piece, and the result can be seen in her first solo art exhibition, SunDaze, on now at the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

“I called it SunDaze because for most of the week I am busy being a mother or working in marketing,” the 25-year-old said.

“The only time I have to work on my art is usually on Sundays while my daughter, Samiyah, naps or sits on the floor colouring.”

While some artists spend days or even weeks on one piece, Ms Simons said some of her best work in the show was done in an hour, out of sheer necessity.

She has 19 pieces in SunDaze, in pastel, charcoal and acrylic paint. The subject matter ranges from loquats and bay grape leaves to abstract art.

“I played a lot with texture and colour,” she said. “I did quite a lot of groundwork to the paper so I would have more texture and grit. It was always fun to build up the canvas to give it more dimension. That is something you can’t always do when you are a digital designer.”

She studied art in high school and was greatly influenced by local artist Sharon Wilson. She decided to take a more practical route by studying digital art design and marketing at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.

After university she worked for a few years as marketing coordinator at Masterworks, but never got around to showing her own work.

“I am now doing marketing somewhere else,” she said, “but working at Masterworks was really inspiring.

“I could meet other artists who had works there. The Bermuda collection of art at Masterworks is also very inspiring.”

Ms Simons said SunDaze represented her jump back into the art-making process and exploring different mediums. “I stay focused by surrounding myself with a group of working artist friends,” she said. “They are always a good source of inspiration.

“I tried to focus on the process of creating rather than focusing on the final output. I felt that was a more healthy approach. If you get caught up in whether it will sell then you’ll never do it.”

One of her artist friends gave her some pastels, a medium she had not tried before. At first, she was a bit reluctant to use them, but quickly fell in love.

“You can do so much with them in such a short period of time,” she said.

She hopes that SunDaze helps to raise her profile as an artist in the community.

“I also hope my art encourages other people to try the creative process,” she said. “For me this was a lot about self-exploration.”

SunDaze is on at Homer’s Cafe until April 30.

For more information, see www.bermudamasterworks.com/nicolesimons