October 22.

One of the most attractive art shows seen in a long time is currently gracing the walls of the Society of Art's gallery at City Hall. Its appeal lies, to some extent, in the way it has been hung: obviously, unusual care has been taken to show all the paintings to their greatest advantage and, in so doing, there is a subtle linkage of both colour themes and treatment of subjects.

The show is called Growing, and for the seventh time, a nucleus of artists are banding together to present their latest work.

The concept of art groups, so popular in the United States and Europe, has never quite caught on here. Maybe it is the size of the Island which alleviates the sense of isolation which besets so many artists toiling away in larger countries. One of the obvious advantages of artist groups, certainly from the public's point of view, is the opportunity of observing, on a regular basis, how an artist is developing.

In the case of this group, it is a loose association which imposes no particular theme or style. Any danger of their shows becoming repetitious is precluded by inviting different people to participate.

Three of the original founders are exhibiting this time around, namely: Elmer Midgett, Kris Jensen and Sheilagh Head, with Ann Proctor joining their ranks for the first time.

As the newcomer, let us turn to Ms Proctor's work first. Any doubts that her watercolours, fairly small in size and depicting in some detail, the flowers and plants of Bermuda, might be lost in such a large gallery, are instantly dispelled -- a tribute to the clever grouping of the four artists. The exquisite clarity of colour which Ms Proctor achieves in the burnished orange of her Birds of Paradise are, for instance, echoed in the cornucopia of colour that erupts in the garden of Sheilagh Head's Leith Cottage, and on the other side, the paler coral walls and scarlet hibiscus which dominate Kris Jensen's depiction of Longford Hill.

Again, the delicate pinks of Ms Proctor's Sweet Peas are hung above the flamboyant and much deeper shades of Elmer Midgett's Bougainvillea.

Ann Proctor's relatively sudden success as an artist (she only began painting about four years ago) has been confirmed by previous group shows at Heritage House and the Arts Centre at Dockyard. The story of her debut has something of a fairy-tale quality in that it was when she took one of her watercolours into Heritage House to be framed, that she was immediately invited to take part in their Christmas show.

The fascination in her work lies partly in the fact that it is so hard to define. Her flowers have all the detail of botanical drawings, but there the comparison ends, for they are presented in glowing, jewel-like colours that are quite radiant with vitality. Especially lovely are the succulent gold fruits of her Loquats, the luminous shine of Bay Grape berries, the circular posy of creamy Frangipani. There is a lovely sense of movement in the green-tinged, drooping blooms of her Datura, while the brilliance of her scarlet Natal Plums are offset by their star-white flowers and dark green leaves. Her technique never falters.

Kris Jensen has perhaps, grown more than the other artists in that her style seems to have undergone a complete change since last year. Also specialising in flowers, her paintings tended to the small and detailed. This year, however, everything is on a much larger and looser scale, and she is now also absorbed with aspects of Bermuda's architecture.

Some of her floral studies are reminiscent of Georgia O'Keeffe -- a close-up colour and structural study of a single bloom that fills the entire canvas.

She handles her oils well and has an instinctive feel for the subtlety of her subject. Rose Water, depicting a single white rose, has a rare lyrical quality, while her Rose Towards Abstract, Andrew's Iris and her Amaryllis are a combination of spectacular brush work and shimmering colour. There is a real Bermudian, or should we say, tropical, flavour to these flower pieces, which would look especially effective on cold white walls.

The bold lines and deep shadows of her Bermuda roof-scape is impressive and, again, is all the more interesting for being hung, as a close-up version, next to Sheilagh Head's more distant and impressionistic Rooflines.

Besides being one of the Island's strongest painters, Elmer Midgett is also one of the most unusual. While comparisons may be embarrassing (and certainly will be to him), one is often reminded of Van Gogh -- in the vigorous lines and colours of his landscapes, a similar penchant for painting pictures of his furniture and a stoic determination not to waver from the chosen path: he eschews commercialism and paints whatever catches his fancy, be it an old pair of boots or the kitchen sink.

This time, there are two exquisite interior studies, Plant on Windowsill and Heliotrope (which, apparently, is also a plant as well as a colour), both wonderfully composed studies, where the plants seem to be longing for the sun filtering through the austere window frames in the background. His Watering Can and The First Tomato are vintage Elmer, where prosaic objects, huddling in the light and shadow of a hot summer's day, take on a beauty all of their own.

His landscapes, whose brilliant colours and sharply etched outlines could scarcely be more different from those of the other exhibiting landscapist, Sheilagh Head, are achieving a highly distinctive quality; his seashores and sands sizzle with unrelenting heat, the ancient volcanic rocks which feature in so many of his works, becoming a brooding presence. There are also two delightful colour pencil studies of a corner of his living room and of his cat snoozing, with regal air, in a wicker chair.

Elmer Midgett and Sheilagh Head painted on Southlands Beach together for this show, giving us a lasting illustration of how individual is the eye of the artist. Mrs. Head's view is impressionistic, where blues and violet, greens and golds suffuse in the shimmering heat of the day. Between the Rocks, which confirms that this artist is certainly still growing, is almost abstract, with deep lilac and blue shadows casting dramatically angular lines through the sun. Beautiful, too, is her Sudden Squall, where stormy clouds whip the turquoise sea into a frenzy of movement.

Above all, Sheilagh Head is our painter of seasons and the diurnal and nocturnal round. She is one of the very, very few artists who is able to capture the extraordinary colours of Bermuda's sunrise and sunset, without descending into artistic bathos. The ethereal pinks and lilacs, radiating from the sky into the water do indeed suggest that `the gentleness of heaven is on the sea'. Darrell's Morning, First Light and Island Morning are all exquisite realisations of the islands stirring serenely into life.

There is just one week left to see this outstanding show: don't miss it.

PATRICIA CALNAN.