eauty demands attention is the underlying message in a new exhibition depicting Bermuda children and local buildings by artist Lisa-Anne Rego.

The show ?Reverberant Light? opens on October 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Ms Rego?s gallery in the Wyndham Hotel. It will run for two weeks.

?Beauty surrounds us in ordinary, every day subject matter such as children talking or perhaps a building undergoing light and shadow,? said Ms Rego. ?This beauty demands our attention. With the busy lives that we lead as adults we often don?t allow ourselves long enough to behold such beauty.?

Ms Rego was born in Bermuda but was raised and educated in the United Kingdom. She returned to the island in 2001 as the Masterworks Foundation artist-in-residence.

?I wasn?t intending to stay in Bermuda,? said Ms Rego. ?I thought after three months as Masterworks Artist in Residence I would be off, but it resulted in four exhibitions one of which was an exhibition at the Bermuda Society of Arts Gallery at City Hall. This is my second solo show in Bermuda, although I have done several group shows here.?

Ms Rego set up the Lisa-Anne Rego Gallery in the Wyndham hotel last year. This will be her first solo show in the new space. The pieces in ?Reverberant Light? show children lounging against brightly coloured buildings, playing in the garden, or coming out of the sea.

?I am fascinated with the effect of light upon buildings and children,? said Ms Rego. ?I very much enjoy the effect of placing a child in front of a building. The most important painterly effect is the contrast on surfaces between smooth and rough, and cold and warm.

?As a painter I feel really lucky to have these richly textured surfaces in Bermuda. It makes for a ready made subject matter everywhere you go. There is also a rich quality of light in Bermuda; the light is so golden.?

Many of the children are posed, although she tries hard to make them look as natural as possible.

?I want it to look as though I have just stolen the moment and found them as they are,? she said.

One of her building subjects located in front of Pasta Basta Restaurant in Hamilton recently caught fire, so she is glad she recorded it for posterity.

?I chose that building for its colour, actually,? she said. ?It was such a striking value of green. Afternoon light becomes quite charged with yellow and suddenly you have this production of purples and violets. It is really to do with the fact that it was such an awesome surface to paint.?

In some of her paintings the figures are quite small in proportion to the buildings. She said this was deliberate, because she did not want the figures to overwhelm the picture.

?I wanted to make the buildings jump out,? she said.

She has been painting since she was seven years old, but she was really inspired to become a painter when she visited the Louvre Museum in Paris, France when she was nine years old.

?My eyes were opened up to what I was seeing by a very good art teacher at the Glasgow School of Art,? she said.

?He really opened my eyes to what the impressionists were trying to do with colour and so forth. It was furthered by meeting another artist in Scotland who believed in the fundamental importance of observational drawing.?

Ms Rego believes that her task as an artist is to help the viewer rest the eyes visually so they can appreciate the quieter moments in life. ?Children pretty much live for the moment, whereas adults tend to make five-year-plans,? she said. ?I am hoping, in some ways, to touch people who are leading very busy lives on this island. One of the present evils of our society is that we are so busy we don?t have time to stop and appreciate the beauty around us.?

Ms Rego?s artwork also helps visitors to the island appreciate the many splendours of Bermuda. Her gallery is located in a hotel, so many of her patrons are tourists. They often enjoy watching her paint in the gallery.

?I have a very interesting response from visitors,? she said. ?Those who have visited Bermuda previously, respond very well. They see it as a very, very unique portrayal of Bermuda. They tell me that it is a sincere and authentic view and they really enjoy looking at my work.

?The say ?We are really enjoying looking at your work compared to other artists?.?

She said she hasn?t succumbed to painting beach scenes yet, although they are perhaps more commercially viable.

?I am aware that naturally a tourist in Bermuda for the first time will want to see such images in my gallery,? Ms Rego said. ?But I will make sure that those images are visually interesting. I won?t ever compromise what it is I am supposed to be doing, which is sincerely recording what is important. The tourists find it quite refreshing, looking at little children who are everywhere on our buses and on our streets. They find that quite exciting.?

However, Ms Rego said it is important that artists receive balanced feedback about their work.

?I think it is a very healthy situation for artists to critique one another?s work,? she said. ?It is encouraging and progressive, and it allows you to really step back and appreciate the good in your work. There has to be a healthy balance. Truth without positivity can be quite brutal, but also you don?t want to be sentimental.

?I am very concerned that in Bermuda we could be holding on to sentimental treatment of art. Really, that is not how anyone gets into a good art school. You have to be able to show what it is your work represents and how it has been done.?

She said artists who don?t get balanced feedback about their work sometimes find it hard to move forward and end up in a rut.

?That is a great problem that faces everyone who is an artist in Bermuda,? she said. ?The Biennial Exhibition is probably the most significant exhibition in Bermuda, and we are appraised by international jurors so that is setting the level very high for artists in Bermuda.?

Ms Rego is a fully trained oil painter, also paints commissioned portraits of people, pets and landscapes.

?I can do a formal painting or informal painting of people?s children, or perhaps an adult who wishes to have a record of their retirement,? she said. ?I also offer portraits in pastel and pencil as well.?

Her clients can also get their portrait printed onto a postcard so it can be sent to friends and family.

She will also soon be offering art classes for children and adults in her gallery for those who would also like to tap into the beauty around them.

Classes for children and adults start in November.

?I love to communicate the principles of art,? she said. ?It is a healthy situation for an artist to be making work and teaching art. I enjoy that very much.?

For more information go to www.lisarego.com .