The most prominent works at the exhibition of marine paintings at the Arts Centre at Dockyard are those of Giles Campbell and all but one of these are oils. Only two days ago I was suggesting that he should keep his oilsto himself until he had worked out a comfortable relationship with the medium. He may consider my words eaten. The five oils in this show represent, in general, a huge step forward and with just a little more self study he should be able to put together a style in oils to match his now confident and individual style in watercolours.

Given that he is deeply ?into? painting boats and presumably sailing them as well, his boats are all successfully in the water rather than merely on it. Generally they move through the water, not just in it. If I may make a suggestion, Mr. Campbell might give more study to the three-quarter wave; it is the thrust of this displaced water that is an integral part of what moves a boat forward.The difficult white light of mid-day Bermuda seems to come naturally to this artist and his softer skies here are as good as those in his watercolours at the Edinburgh Gallery. With his more defined clouds, however, he should notice that they are subject to the same rules of perspective as everything else.

Another effect of light that hasn?t escaped Mr. Campbell?s perceptive eye is the refraction and reflection of light off water that shines on the shaded lower parts of a boat?s hull. Combined with his ready sense of the slick paint finish on these hulls the result is a very lively and convincing representation of racing sailboats. I always enjoy improvement in the work of any artist as much or mare than anything else. This pleasure in his oils should in no way detract from Mr.Campbell?s one watercolour in this show, ?Fat Bottom Girl?, a portly yacht tied up at Lower Ferry. As one now expects of his watercolours, this one is perceptive, a gentle impression of a very solid subject in that softened white light at which the artist now excels.

Joyce Beale, the creator of so many gently coloured batik works, surprises her admirers with a strongly coloured abstract watercolour, ?Offshore?. She handles her strong colours as deftly as her softly hued batiks, three of which, all tall ships, provide a fine contrasting note in this strong show.

Another artist who can be relied upon for some contrasting excitement is Lynn Morrell with her beautifully executed quilt work. This time there are two, ?Storm Tossed? and ?Contrary Winds?, each of which have highly stylised representations of wind or waves, all properly circulating counter-clockwise. Smaller than her usual works, these will fit comfortably on any wall.

Moving away from the expected Asian motifs, ChaiT has gone to the beach for the summer. ?Freefall? is a representation in her usual precisely detailed style of children swimming, one of them arrested in mid-cannonball. The otherwise looser style of ?Discovery? is somewhat spoiled by water as relentlessly regimented and regular as any Canaletto.?Peaceful?, however, is peaceful indeed and is distinguished by fluid water soft enough to sooth the soul.

The ever-prolific Sheilagh Head must have been on holiday. She has but one work in the show, a lively take on the old tug ?Forceful? tied up in decaying retirement at the Dockyard. Mrs. head catches the sense of peace with no little gusto, an achievement in itself.

The equally prolific KokWan Lee has three acrylic abstracts, as soft as pastels. They had me itching to turn them upside down so that they could become abstractions of spinnakers. Maybe they were anyway.This is as lively a show as one has come to expect at the Dockyard Gallery and is well worth a look in. Apart from anything else, all the boats are comfortably floating in the water, not just placed on it. Things are getting better!