The crafts show at the Arts Centre at Dockyard gives Bermuda its annual opportunity to see and marvel at the high standards that continue to prevail.

Most of the work in this show comes from artists and craftsmen who are already well known, so this show may best be described as one of consolidation. Once again, though, a walk through this show is a rewarding experience -- and once again, the viewer is left wondering at the astonishing talent on this Island.

Woodart is well represented this year, with some exquisite examples of their furniture design and manufacture. The magnificent, three-part drop-leaf dining table, a white cedar chest on chest, the round walnut and fiddlewood coffee table and several occasional chairs all reveal a pleasing simplicity of line enhanced by the use of the finest materials: surely, heirlooms of tomorrow.

Kevin Pantry brings a strong imagination, coloured, one suspects by an affinity for the theatrical, as well as superb craftsmanship to his increasingly ambitious pieces. His extroverted use of colour comes into play with a fine pair of mirrors, papier mache-framed in a deep cinnabar, decorated with a black and gold pattern. This same motif is repeated in a lacquered side table. His obvious fascination with oriental objet d'art is reflected in his Hanging Cabinet, constructed in wood with papier mache panels on which are painted narrative pictures in hues of blue and gold.

There is also a black-shaded lamp, the support being in the form of a huge blue papier mache fish poised on a coral stand. Again, this is beautifully crafted and dramatic in effect.

Lynn Morrell's sumptuous quilts reveal an innate sense of artistry in design and this year is no exception. Her king-size Morning Glory Maze incorporates the variegated hues of these wild flowers as they spill out of the main frame.

Antique doilies and lace handkerchief edging provided the inspiration for her Anniversary Quilt, a quiet tour de force in pale creams and white.

June Christie also has a most attractive quilt on view, entitled Kites and Starfish, the patterns of which show a lively sense of movement.

Katherine Bell has forsaken her Bermuda dolls for a moment, to concentrate on a superb portrayal of a Masai Herdsman. Made especially for Lloyd Webbe, the safari tour operator who has introduced so many Bermudians to the wonders of East Africa, this model (it can hardly be called a doll) looks marvellously authentic, with luxuriously draped red robes and holding sticks of firewood.

Her Bermuda dolls are truly unique, one of a Bermudian woman seen walking home from her garden, carrying a basket of palmetto leaves and a spade, a packet of onion seed peeping from her pocket. Another one shows a woman carrying a baby in an improvised bassinet of palmetto. Anyone who wants a souvenir of Bermuda could hardly do better than to buy one of these original, one-of-a-kind dolls.

There are some fine wall hangings by Jessica Kriendler, hand-painted on silk and, as in the case of her Harrington Sound View II, portraying a pictorial scene.

The almost-lost art of close caning has been revived by Fiona Bluck with two examples of honey coloured chairs, and some original, brightly coloured hand-made jewellery by Virginia Midgett, with themes provided by a giraffe entwined in trees and flowers and a necklace and earring set depicting black and white zebras.

On the subject of jewellery, the talented Judith Faram moves into an intriguing new style with her agate Tiffanyesque brooches and pendants, which achieve a stained-glass effect.

Embroidery takes on a new perspective in D. Woods' original hands. Her "jewellery'' miniatures are finely worked in threads, beads and sequins and then set in wide frames of Australian silk oak.

There is one new talent on the scene in the form of Sally Cokely Woolf's wonderful painted folding screen. A vision of bay grapes in soft, swirling colours against an orange ground take on an almost art deco appearance and would certainly add a dash of originality to any bedroom.

For many of the exhibitors, this annual show provides a showcase for marketable craft.

In a community that carps about the foreign souvenirs now flooding Front Street, everyone should do their best to support the heroic efforts of the craftspeople at Dockyard who are producing such beautiful wares, often at very affordable prices.

PATRICIA CALNAN.