When American artist James Toogood first came to Bermuda in 1982 it was on honeymoon with his wife Eileen. This year he is back as artist-in-residence at the Masterworks Foundation's Terrace Gallery in Dockyard, where his solo exhibition will open on September 12.

Over the past 20 years, the couple have visited Bermuda many times, as a result of which they have developed a deep love of the Island and made many friends. Mr. Toogood has also exhibited at the Windjammer Gallery.

Naturally, as an artist he always travels with the tools of his profession, and each time he leaves Bermuda it is with a collection of meticulously painted watercolours or graphite portraits he has completed.

This time, Mr. Toogood is spending his days and evenings capturing the Island's beauty in a series of landscapes in preparation for his forthcoming exhibition, when he expects to show approximately ten paintings.

A hallmark of this artist's work is that it is almost photographic in its execution. Unlike some watercolour artists whose work is much looser, Mr. Toogood's brush is controlled and thoughtful. While he paints what he sees, he pays particular attention to the myriad details that make a composition work really well, and will, if necessary, take very subtle licence to achieve perfection.

His portrayal of water, in particular, is an outstanding feature of his work, as is his understanding of light. His fascination with the technique of capturing water stretches back to his teen years when he was captivated by the work of the nineteenth century American painter, William Trost Richards.

"I thought, `Look at his watercolours and oils, and look at how he can handle water', and I have always kept his paintings in the back of my mind. It is almost as if he is over my shoulder mentoring me as I have learned about painting water," Mr. Toogood says. "As things have developed, my technique is probably not anything like his, but he has inspired me to take the plunge, so to speak."

In fact, the artist feels that his technique is probably more akin to 19th century English painters than to the style which began with people like Winslow Homer, who worked with a little more spontaneity. "Watercolour is a flexible medium, and right now people really celebrate the spontaneity of the medium. It can be exquisite - for example (Bermuda artist) Chris Marson's work."

The understanding and development of water and light techniques were further advanced during his years of study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The secret, the artist says today, is "observation and understanding the basic principles of reflection and what it is that you are looking at".

"A lot of times people aren't totally aware of what they are looking at. Water can be taken apart, into little bits and pieces, and with many, many layers of paint. I will use as many layers as need be (to achieve) the optical mixing where light penetrates through several layers of paint, hits the paper, and then bounces back again. Technically, in oil painting, especially one that is using a lot of white to modify the colours, the light hits the surface of the paint. It doesn't penetrate through the layers, and that is why you have a difference in the look of the two different mediums. Sometimes people who are used to looking at a certain type of watercolour will look at mine and say, `It doesn't look like a watercolour' but that is only because they haven't seen all of the different ways a watercolour can be expressed."

In fact, Mr. Toogood, who has written several books, is currently writing a teaching book with the working title, `Incredible Light and Texture', which will be published by Northlight Books. It will include several paintings of Bermuda, and address such topics as water, manmade textures, night, portraits, and more.

For local artists, the good news is that, while in Bermuda this time, he will also conduct two workshops. The first, on August 10 from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m., will focus on some of the above aspects of painting.

"I will focus on getting the feeling of light, natural and manmade texture, and linear perspective and I will use as the imagery a sketch of `Stockdale' in St. George's," he says.

The subject of the second, on August 24, will be portrait painting in watercolours.

"Even if people are a little concerned about the subject matter, I would encourage them to come and see my demonstration. In my experience, people are often afraid to do watercolour portraits, but I will show them in a way that will take the fear away," the artist assures.

In terms of subject matter, Mr. Toogood says his primary focus as artist is capturing "the essence of everyday life".

"My subjects are just about any aspect of contemporary life - people, places and things, and I have always been interested in landscapes," he says. "I like to move from one thing to another. In the US I do a lot of cityscapes, and I am fairly well known for these."

Urban scenes, and the juxtaposition between textures and various architectural interpretations are what fascinate him. For example, how a building which has stood unaltered for a very long time is then taken over by someone else who imposes a different interpretation or use upon it, such as a new paint job, function, signage and/or lighting.

"I love painting cityscapes because they are actually, in some ways, very similar to the way things happen in Bermuda. Cities develop in a very organic way, even though they are influenced by the hand of man," he says.

In this regard, the artist will be giving a lunchtime slide presentation on September 25 at the Bermuda National Gallery, the subject of which will be contrasting the influences of Bermuda with those of the north eastern United States.

Sometimes questioned about his choice of what, to others, are ugly subjects, Mr. Toogood's response is that he enjoys creating something beautiful from them.

"It seems to me that finding beautiful things in the mundane and sometimes overlooked really is the way you can get the poignancy," he says. "I want to be able to look at something and say, `That is exactly the way I know this place', but it then has to be painted in such a way that it is its best self."

While watercolours are his main medium for land/cityscapes, Mr. Toogood also works with graphite when he feels this lends itself well to certain subjects, including portraits. In this regard, he reveals how it is possible to have the gaze of a person "follow" the viewer around a room.

"The trick is to to have the subject look directly into your eyes and then paint them accurately," he says.

In preparing for his one-man exhibition at the Terrace Gallery in September, the artist says already being familiar with the Island made it easy for him to pre-determine what subjects he wished to capture so that once he arrived he began painting immediately. Even so, he maintains that painting for Bermuda viewers is more challenging than for those who live overseas.

"If you don't get a scene absolutely spot on, most people abroad wouldn't know the difference, but to do Bermuda paintings for Bermudians, they will know if you have gotten it right or wrong, and that, for me, is the real litmus test. Hopefully, my group of landscapes will meet with Bermudians' approval," Mr. Toogood says.

The remark seems uncommonly modest, given the fact he is held in high esteem in American art circles, and his last show of Bermuda paintings in Philadelphia sold extremely well.

"There are a lot of Bermuda connections in Philadelphia, and it was also the first stop on the Masterworks Foundations' travelling exhibition, and that was a huge success. The museum was very, very pleased. There was a lot of interest in Bermuda. When people saw the paintings they said, `I must go back'," the artist says. "One of my paintings has been in some of the Masterworks exhibitions, which are an excellent ambassador for Bermuda. I was thrilled to be a part of it."

Expounding on the theory of painting, the artist describes this as "a visual language using symbols which can communicate to people across borders and transcend the limitations that other languages have".

"I see art as a language. It can be extremely expressive to people, and very potent and powerful," he says.

Asked what he tries to express in his own work, Mr. Toogood responds: "Everything from the sublime to the ridiculous".

"It is whatever I find fascinating in life, whether amusing or bemusing," he says. "When it comes to paintings of Bermuda, Eileen and I have grown to have such a big love for this Island that painting is what I do, but it is like a love letter. Bermuda is an endless source of fascination for me."

The artist-in-residence is also enthused about the growth and vibrancy of the local art scene, and particularly the emergence of artists under Masterworks' Artists Up Front...Street programme.

"There are some brilliant young painters coming up, and Masterworks has given them an opportunity to exhibit. The programme is a wonderful augmentation of the burgeoning art community," he says. "Twenty years ago, when we first came here, there were several commercial galleries but no Masterworks and no National Gallery. Things have gotten more developed and more sophisticated. When you look at this year's Bacardi Biennial exhibition at the National Gallery and you see the variety of work that is there, it is just astonishing that in a place as small as Bermuda you can have all this very, very sophisticated work."

For further information on Mr. Toogood's exhibition and workshop 236-2950 or 295-5580. For information on his lecture at the Bermuda National Gallery 295-9428.