Bermudians are ready for a new type of art - they just don't know it yet, veteran artist Bruce Stuart said yesterday just hours after he finished painting a dead tree stump at the junction of Serpentine and Pitt's Bay roads.

Mr. Stuart said he painted the stump bright colours to celebrate the tree's life and said his efforts gave positive presentation to an image that had long held a negative one.

The tree was trimmed by Works and Engineering employees after motorists complained the tree's size reduced visibility, prompting outbursts of outrage from residents.

Mr. Stuart explained the purpose of using a triad of colours: “Yellow is an eye-catching colour. Once your eye sees it, you have no choice but to look and learn. The lime green is a road-side colour that's often used in the States and lately I've been using a lot of blue in my work.

“After the tree was killed by the tree trimmers, many people complained about the stump but nobody did anything about it, so I thought ‘What the heck',” he said.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was upset about the “vandalism” after seeing the tree change several times over the last few days each time she passed by.

Mr. Stuart, who did not seek any permission to paint the stump, said he was not trying to deface public property, nor disrespect Government in any way.

“This was just a bold statement. Now the tree has had a resurrection,” he said.

He said he hoped that this type of art would turn Bermudians on to new ideas and planned to paint more trees again in the future - with permission.