British artist Richard Tait is no stranger to Bermuda, having been here three times previously with Caroline Barlow to conduct the Eastertime 'Art for All' workshops for the Masterworks Foundation.

What is different about the current visit is that Mr. Tait has been the Foundation's artist-in-residence for the past eight weeks, and opens his first solo exhibition, '21 Square Miles', in the Rose Garden Gallery this evening.

A resident of London, England, the solo artist learned about the artist-in-residence programme during a previous visit, and successfully applied for this year.

In Britain, Mr. Tait specialises in painting very large cityscapes of London's 'Square Mile' — the capital's business district, and he saw the 'Bermuda experience' as an artistic challenge because everything here — from the climate to the humidity and light — is so different. Once here, he lost no time putting his oils and acrylics to work, and the output has been prolific.

"I started working on 23 canvases the first day — I'm a bit mad like that," he says. "Now I have done 42 altogether, but they won't all be in the show."

Like many visiting artists, Mr. Tait has found Bermuda's light and colours more intense than in Britain, particularly at Tobacco Bay, where he swims regularly.

Of his subject matter, he says any and everything has inspired him — from the people he met to the meals he ate, and of course the myriad wonders of nature. Thus, his exhibition — mainly oils on linen, but some acrylics and gold leaf as well — will include such subjects as the Portuguese man-of-war, fish, seascapes, rocks, trees, sunsets and moonlit waters.

"Hopefully, it will be something different. I want to make people look twice, and see something in a different way," the artist says.

One of his paintings already hangs at 'Camden' — a southerly perspective from the upper verandah, which former Premier Alex Scott requested.

Summing up his artist-in-residency, Mr. Tait says: "I was really looking forward to this visit because I felt it would be a real test of whether or not I was an artist. For seven years I had only painted something with which I was familiar, and I knew Bermuda would be totally different — the palette, the climate, the humidity. At the stage I am at, there are old ideas I have never spent, and new ones which have been born that I didn't use, so I would like to come back again and use up the ideas that are left over."

Meanwhile, the artist faces a very busy and exciting year following his return home. In October he will be honoured with the prestigious Freedom of the City of London in recognition of both his extensive charity work, and as a muralist of the area. He is already a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Painters and Stainers, which ties in with his life as a painter and part-time tutor of various creative disciplines and adult life drawing classes.

At Christmastime, the Royal Academy of Art will release a limited edition print of one of his Cityscape paintings, and is also considering another commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Lloyds of London building.

Mr. Tait, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in drawing and painting from Kingston-upon-Thames University, has also been commissioned by the City of London to paint a huge mural measuring approximately ten feet by 75 feet of the Monument to the Great Fire of London in 1666, to be erected across Pudding Lane while the real thing undergoes restoration.

Although it will take him a year to complete, the good news for Bermuda and the Masterworks Foundation is that he will return with Ms Barlow at Eastertime, as usual, to conduct the annual 'Art for All' workshops.

The opening reception for '21 Square Miles' takes place from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. this evening. Thereafter the exhibition will remain up until September 12. For further information see the Bermuda Calendar or telephone 236-2950.