April 30.

"Ah,'' the hopeful reviewer thought as he stepped through the doors of the Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard. "Spring must really be in the air.'' Having just had the unforeseen pleasure of taking in one of the Bermuda Society of Arts' strongest spring members' shows in recent memory, he had admittedly high expectations for the BAC's current open members' exhibition, which, after all, was being put on by a group that has always been a tad freer, a bit more daring than the staid old BSA, and which, at first glance, had struck him as holding a great deal of promise., Unfortunately, though, the poor reviewer's hopes were at least to be partially dashed, as on closer inspection, many of the oils and acrylics in the show -- as well as, for example, Jonah Jones' pen and ink drawings, Deirdre Pantry's black and white etchings and Joyce Beale and Laura Elgey's watercolours -- turned out to be quite unremarkable, full as they were of art-school eagerness and undistilled talent, but not of gallery quality.

In terms of photography, the submissions of the usually very interesting Antoine Hunt -- namely three sepia-toned gelatine prints that form a part of his "Nature's Children: Man'' series -- also turned out to be something of a disappointment, lacking as they did in the depth and life of his earlier photos and sculptures.

Only one of Mr. Hunt's submissions, "Cognito I,'' had any fluidity, any sense of movement or technical vigour; the rest, alas, were blurred, unsubstantive figure studies that didn't really say or suggest very much., Similarly, more than half of Andi Giggins' eight colour photographs of various Bermudian locales declined to ignite the imagination of this particular critic. With the exception of "Pickwick Mews,'' "Pizza Dude Building'' and "Cedar Villa Porch'' -- handsome, well-delivered photographs all -- most of the artist's subjects were rather uninteresting, and the attempt at comparison and/or contrast in such creations as "Termite Club Shack'' and "Saint Mary's Warehouse'' a noble yet ultimate flop.

But enough, the reviewer finally said to himself, of such gloomy, wintry thoughts. For inferior works aside, there was much -- or at least enough -- in the show to praise.

This included, in no particular order of preference, four strong watercolours by Christopher Marson (especially the warm, subdued "Along North Shore''), Jennifer Stobo's submission "Claire'' (a wonderfully enigmatic pastel that showed a raven-haired woman in a state of -- what? -- repose, slumber, death), "Monk'' by Pamela Holl Hunt (the type of affecting abstract that invites the viewer to contemplate its shapes and shades for hours) and "Gloucester Revisited II'' (Reed Cooper's well-balanced, intricately patterned silk-screen study of the southern English city, particularly its cathedral and the Gothic-classical motifs that adorn it).

With regard to sculpture, only the popular Chesley Trott had provided any submissions, though these -- especially his two bronzes, the beautifully wrought relationship-themed "Family Circle'' and "Circle of Two'' -- would have stood out anyway.

And of course, the mounted industrial montages of Will Collieson could also have been regarded as sculptures of sorts. One, a 3-D in-joke called "Come In Number 3,'' called to mind some fantastic new-age telephone box, while the others -- two weathered mixed-media icons that stuck out of their gilded frames -- again revealed the extent of this artist's sizable talents, finding beauty in erosion, art in rusty nails.

And with these and the other images firmly in his mind, the humble reviewer packed away his notepad and rode from the Dockyard a satisfied person. After all, a rusty nail as art was surely a sign that the promise of springtime had indeed been fulfilled.

DANNY SINOPOLI CHESLEY TROTT -- Only sculptor in the show would have stood out anyway.

WILL COLLIESON -- His mounted industrial montages find beauty in erosion.