Bermudian Mrs. Jackie Jones Holmes, who left home for the US in 1966 and established herself in Atlanta and Florida as a highly successful artist, is back on the Island for one of her frequent visits.

Describing Bermuda as her "spiritual home,'' she says that it is essential for her to return as often as possible, to spend time painting the Island, "as it is reflected in all my work''.

She and her husband, fellow artist Mr. Jon Haber, have separate studios in their Venice, Florida home, and Mrs. Holmes says that her traditional Bermudian motifs and colours which permeate her artwork are part of a craving for "all things Bermudian'' that seems to have swept through Florida.

"I do a lot of work with interior decorators who love our Island colours. My most popular paintings are of Bermuda -- there are so many people in and around Venice who have some sort of connection with or have visited the Island.'' The Bermudian style of architecture (complete with white roofs) is the latest craze, she says, with architects and designers adopting and adapting the Island's unique approach. "John Outerbridge, who also lives in Venice, designs and builds in his native Bermuda style.'' Mrs. Jones, who specialises in floral paintings and scenes of Bermuda, works in all media but prefers watercolour, which she feels is best suited to her soft, pastel shades. Her realistic depictions translate well into prints, postcards and notelets, all of which are sold exclusively through The Royal Gazette Stationery Store.

She is the only Bermudian artist to have been made a member of the Fine Art Trade Guild in London. Through that association, her work was shown in the upstairs gallery of the Royal Academy of Arts. One of the paintings was her Cherokee Rose, the state flower of Georgia, presented to and hung in the State Capitol and now forming part of the permanent Georgia archives.

After leaving Mount St. Agnes, Mrs. Holmes became a window-dresser and model for H.A. & E. Smith and also modelled for the Holiday Island Show with Elspeth and Don Gibson. She reminisces, too, about the days when she was a member of the water-ski display team with Environment Minister, the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto. "We were partners and did the Skiers' Salute together -- and Neil Harris was the one who held us up!'' Her fascination with painting began as a child, when, she says, she remembers drawing and crayoning in sketchbooks with Lois Moss and Harry Mello. When Charles Mobers became head chef at Elbow Beach Hotel and a close neighbour, she spent hours watching him paint. "He had majored in art in Paris but decided he'd better earn a living, so he became a chef. But he was a wonderful artist and ended up giving me lessons.'' She was also a great admirer of the Tucker sisters and her cousin, artist Mary Zuill.

"I'm told that the Frith side of my family were quite artistic and that great-grandfather Jones did some of the wood carving at Camden.'' When Mrs. Holmes went to live in California, she worked as a visual merchandiser (as window-dressers are called over there) for Ruth Atkins, where she received a major award for her work from Genisco Corporation.

Her move to Atlanta was to change her life. Walking her poodles, Sherlock and Candy to the local supermarket, she came across an art gallery. "So I forgot about the groceries and went in there instead,'' she recalls. Three years later, she married the owner, Jon Haber.

When her husband realised that his new wife was making more money selling her art than with her merchandising job at Rich's department store, he persuaded her to "retire''. They have worked together ever since.

Mr. Haber studied at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and in 1977 painted President Jimmy Carter's portrait. His original and first edition presentation portfolio of scenes around the President's home in Plains, Georgia is now in the Presidential Library in Atlanta.

He has also become an enthusiastic portrayer of the Bermuda scene and is currently specialising in historical paintings, especially the ships of old Bermuda.

Their decision to move to Florida was partly prompted by Mrs. Holmes' longing to live in close proximity to the sea. "I was crying for my ocean and if I couldn't have Bermuda, we thought Florida was the next best thing.'' By then, she was also achieving notable success with her floral and Bermuda paintings which she was selling to Ethan Allen Carriage House Inc. Her floral paintings led to an invitation to join the Venice Area Garden Club, which is part of the Federation of Florida Garden Clubs.

Mrs. Holmes made headlines of another kind during her visit to Bermuda last year. The Royal Gazette reported her rescue of a stray cat who had set up unofficial residence at Elbow Beach. Acting on her wish to acquire a "home-grown, Bermudian cat'', Mrs. Holmes and husband Jon searched the bushes around the beach one evening, as "this is where we used to find our pets when I was a kid and living right by Elbow Beach''. Their luck held this time, for a handsome white cat strolled out on to the moonlit sands and into their lives.

Sir Jon-Tom, as he was rather royally christened by his new owners, now resides in considerable splendour at their home in Florida. Mrs. Holmes' Little Onion, as she fondly refers to him, is to be immortalised in the form of a special award donated to the annual show organised by the Bermuda Cat Fanciers' Association. He is also the subject of a new portrait by Jon Haber, which is to be included in their new collection of notelets and cards.

LUCKY TOM -- Discovered on Elbow Beach last summer, Sir Jon-Tom now lives with his artist owners in Florida. In this Bermuda portrait by Mr. Jon Haber, he wears a sterling silver Bermuda coat of arms inscribed with his new name and address. Below , Bermudian artist Mrs. Jackie Jones Holmes with two of her works depicting St. George's.