Bermudian artist, Diana Amos, is of Portuguese descent through her mother's family. Her grandfather, Manuel Moniz Rego came to Bermuda as a farmer in the late 1800s. His family originated from San Miguel of the Azores.

Her mother, Sarah Robson, was born in Bermuda in 1916. She met Mrs. Amos' late father, Leslie (Robbie) Robson when he came to Bermuda from Yorkshire, England with the Royal Marines.

"My grandparents came to Bermuda as a young couple with two small children.

Nine children were born in Bermuda. As you can imagine, I have numerous relatives here! My grandfather farmed in Southampton. He eventually had his own farming business and employees. This was in the days of horse drawn transportation without the modern conveniences that we take for granted today,'' Mrs. Amos remarked.

Mrs. Amos describes her childhood as a happy one and recalls that she became aware of her drawing talent at about age eight. "The little boys at school liked for me to draw mermaids on the insides of their arms. They would pinch their skins and make my drawings wiggle,'' she reflected with a soft smile.

"My parents loved gardening and the natural environment. In the 1950s they built a home on an old farm property in Harrington Hundreds where we had a view of the whole island from Dockyard to the airport and there were about seven or eight acres of land on which my father farmed and kept a cow and chickens in his spare time.

"We had so much freedom and fun, we could walk and horseback ride for miles without going on roads in those days,'' explained Mrs. Amos.

This accomplished artist says the landscape, architecture and atmosphere of rural Bermuda are the source of her paintings.

"I think that my love of the landscape is rooted in childhood experiences and began with my grandparents on both sides of my family.'' Her strong sense of composition and subtle use of colour results in beautiful luminous painting, which evokes the changing seasons and shifts of light.

"My favourite times to paint in Bermuda are autumn and spring. I like the morning and mid to late afternoon to paint on site. The middle of the day is so changeable. I am intrigued by the hues of light in Bermuda.'' Mrs. Amos attended Bermuda High School for Girls and took art lessons after school with Louise Ronnebeck who encouraged her to continue with her art studies. At age eighteen she studied painting at St. Martin's School of Art in London for four years and went on to Hornsey College of Art to gain her Art Teacher's Diploma. She earned her Master of Fine Arts Degree, cum laude, at the Instituto Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico. She lectured in Fine Art at the Bermuda College for 27 years.

"Art gives me great pleasure. It's living and breathing for me. It is a continuous flow. I don't just switch it on and off. I have a lot of paintings going on at the same time.'' Three years ago Mrs. Amos attended the Savannah School of Art and Design and studied computer art. She has since done some attractive and detailed computer drawings.

The art of Mrs. Amos is very diversified and uses many mediums: oil, acrylics and watercolours. She says she does not have favourite colours and uses an array. She displays lovely pink and peach tones in her series of Nudes.

"I get my ideas from nature. I use my observations of shapes and colours which I see around me. I am fond of landscapes and old structures,'' she explained.

Her paintings have that rare quality of appearing spontaneous and effortlessly graceful.

During her career she has had dozens of exhibits. She has had numerous solo shows in Bermuda and her work has been exhibited in London, Vermont, New York, Jamaica, Canada and Mexico. She is a Grumbacher Award winner. Grumbacher is an international manufacturer of art supplies.

Her original paintings may be seen in St. George's at the quaint Amos Art Studio on 2 Water Street and in Hamilton at the Windjammer Gallery. The phone number for the Amos Studio is: 297-2354.

On November 4 Mrs. Amos will have an exciting solo exhibition of paintings at the Windjammer Gallery, Hamilton. Her show is entitled, "Passages''. She explained the theme, "Passages'', will be interpreted in many different ways.

The exhibition will continue through November 20. The telephone number there is: 292-7861.

Some artists experience bouts of grief when they part with their creations but this is not the case with Mrs. Amos.

"I am very pleased to sell things. I have done the work with passion and I am pleased to know it will be appreciated and enjoyed by others. It gives me significant gratification to sell a good piece of art which I created.'' She shares a studio at home with her artist husband, Eric Amos, known for his wildlife art.

They have one child, a daughter and artist, Stacey who studied art at the University of Colorado.

Stacey is known best for her whimsical animals and paintings of natural objects.

Blue Shutter: a painting by Diana Amos will be on exhibition, along with many other beautiful works on November 5 through November 20 at the Windjammer Gallery, Hamilton.

An interesting play on passages by artist, Diana Amos.