The Lisa Rego Art Gallery celebrated its tenth anniversary in grand style last Saturday. The gallery, which is located in the Clock Tower Mall in Dockyard, was opened by Mike Winfield, the America’s Cup Bermuda chief executive.

The artist, Lisa-Anne Rego, has two aptly named paintings, Chase and Flight in the America’s Cup Licensee programme, with her wide range of art reproductions on paper and canvas of both images to suit every budget.

“The challenge was creating a painting that was aesthetically pleasing,” she said. “For instance I avoid using black, so I had to consider alternative ways of achieving values similar to black, and then juxtaposing the various colours of each AC boat.

“For example, the red Emirates sail works beautifully beside Artemis’ blue; essentially careful orchestration was required to create a beautiful composition that summarised the entire event.”

Her first paintings using drone technology were Bermuda Aerial 1 and Bermuda Aerial 2. They were the forerunners to her current collection and both were created to celebrate the beautiful setting of Bermuda from an aerial perspective, with a rich sailing narrative of the Wednesday night race.

Of her painting Flight she explained that it was intentionally done from an eye-level view.

“It allows the viewer to look more closely at the actual marks of each team and their fiercely competitive crew members,” she said. “Each participating country is depicted as having a fighting chance of winning. The modern era meets the past in a sense as the The Spirit of Bermuda looks upon the race in the background.

“In Flight you are seeing all six boats and their marks clearly described, where as in the Chase painting each of the countries are a little more abstracted. So by being less descriptive of those sails — one is truly more aware of their motion in that they fly across the water like flying machines.

“Their monumental size has become as iconic in nature upon the Great Sound to Bermuda’s residents as the skyscrapers of Manhattan are to New Yorkers.”

The recent gallery renovations allowed her to display her collection in a newer and much larger space. “It was the intention of showcasing both my Bermuda sailing paintings alongside my America’s Cup paintings,” Ms Rego said.

The Flight original is available for sale and she has limited editions of both lithographic prints and archival wrapped giclée canvas copies.

“They are limited in number with only 100 of each size, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity with America’s Cup marks upon each,” Ms Rego said. “There is also a limited time frame in which they can be made and purchased according to my license.

“Prices range from $165 for a double matted canvas to $1200 for a large stretched giclée canvas print. I also have rolled lithographs i.e. poster size for $50, so there is something there for every budget.”

Describing the prints a little further, Ms Rego said: “I took the originals to New York to have them super scanned, returning to Bermuda and ensuring identical colour values were achieved in giclée printing to my original work.”

For the originals, please contact the artist directly, as it may turn into an auction if many show an interest in Flight, as anticipated, which Ms Rego regards as one of her best paintings.

In her gallery she enjoys the response to her work from the public.

“If I hadn’t achieved a license with America’s Cup, it would have been heart breaking not to have been able to share this special work as a high quality reproduction for people to take home and enjoy,” she said. “I put all of my life’s training into my art! That is exactly what I did with both America’s Cup paintings. And it’s nothing if I cannot share it with the world.”

The prints can be ordered online at www.lisaregoart.com, at the Lisa Rego Art Gallery in Dockyard, which is open seven days a week. The Bermuda Store on Front Street, The Hamilton Princess and at the America’s Cup Outfitters.

So, don’t miss out. Just as there is a clock that is counting down to the start of America’s Cup, another ticks against both of Lisa-Anne’s America’s Cup paintings due to her licensing agreement.