If you've always toyed with the idea of testing out your artistic skills, this year's upcoming "Grand Art Festival by the Sea'' may be just the ticket.

Hundreds of works of art will be on display at the event, which drew more than 3,000 people last year.

The festival, hosted by the Masterworks Foundation and the Bank of Butterfield, will be held on May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Number Five Wharf on Front Street.

And Masterworks is encouraging aspiring artists to produce two-dimensional works using acrylic, oil, watercolour, collage or photography for the festival.

Your artwork, which can be entered under one of several different categories such as senior citizens, and children's groups, will be judged and hung on the day of the festival.

Last year, Eugene Stovell won the People's Choice award out of 300 other entries.

Already-established artists will be able to set up on Front Street and sell posters and prints. And teams of local school children will be illustrating the streets with chalk-drawings.

If you're more the spectator type, the festival promises to be quite an entertaining event which will also feature music and dance from a number of local artists.

This year's festival will also include a "Quick Art'' competition, where artists are invited to enter with a blank stamped canvas. They will have only a few hours to complete their work, and the winning entry will be awarded a round-trip weekend for two in Paris.

And the Bank of Butterfield has switched the location of their soca/reggae "Island Flavours'' Concert in the Park from Victoria Park to Front Street to help promote the festival.

"This event is great for bringing painting and art to the street level.'' Island gets ready for big art show "It takes it out of the ivory tower so you don't have to go to an art gallery to see it,'' said Masterworks' assistant to the director Elise Outerbridge.

"As the Island gets smaller, it's important to get rid of aggressions in a positive, creative manner. It also gives us a chance to explore what we imagine our culture to be.'' Mrs. Outerbridge said the theme of the show, "My Bermuda'', is broad enough to allow a wide range of expression and interpretation.

"The theme of `My Bermuda' can have so many different connotations -- it doesn't have to be just beach scenes, it can also be used as a form of social commentary,'' she noted.

"Some people may not even feel like this is their Bermuda, and it provides a forum for everyone to express themselves creatively and put their ideas in front of the public,'' she added.

"You've got people coming from all walks of life and all facets of the community, and (at last year's show) there was real discussion going on which is very important.'' The money raised from the $5 entry fee plus five percent of the artwork sales on the day of the festival will go toward a scholarship to be awarded to a Bermudian in their third year of college studying fine arts.

Masterworks is accepting entries from now until the end of April, although late entries will be accepted.

Entries can be picked up at the Masterworks gallery on Front Street. Call Masterworks on 295-2379.

Ras Mykkal Art On Display: Eugene Stovell, left, was last year's Art Festival by the Sea People's Choice award winner. He plans to enter the above work, entitled "Undertaker's Convention'', in this year's festival. Also pictured are Masterworks director Tom Butterfield and Bank of Butterfield marketing director Tracy Outerbridge-Harris.