Clouds and skylines are the focus of artist Emily Tolson’s first solo exhibition at the Bermuda Arts Centre in Dockyard.While many artists’ works feature Bermuda’s natural habitat, the South African native spent quite a bit of time looking up while she completed her exhibit, Cloudscapes and Skylines.“I come from a background of very conceptual, very postmodern types of art and I completely rebelled against that,” said Ms Tolson. “The whole exhibition is about the feeling I get when I look at Bermuda’s clouds. The medium is oils and charcoals. I love representational art, of the romantic variety, even if it is not in vogue right now. I am drawn to the Romantics like Joseph Mallord William Turner and John Constable. Turner’s paintings, After the Deluge, Snowstorm, and Hannibal and his Army, have always been an inspiration. I also love the pre-Raphaelites.”Ms Tolson is originally from Somerset West, an area located about an hour from Cape Town. She came here three-and-a-half years ago with her husband, William Pienaar, who is a chartered accountant.“I don’t really know what I expected before I came to Bermuda,” she said. “My parents were diplomats with the British Foreign Service and I travelled quite a lot with them. I imagined Bermuda would be less cultivated and built up. I knew where it was, which is more than most people know who come here I hear.”She was immediately fascinated with the sky.“I am drawn to twilight scenes before and after storms, moonlit nights and silver linings,” said Ms Tolson. “I prefer the tempestuous Bermuda of boiling thunderheads and stormy windswept vistas to the calm of brilliant turquoise waters and pretty pink beaches in the sun. The clouds are very different here. Clouds in South Africa are beautiful but the ones here are quite magnificent. I spent a lot of time watching them. One of the reasons I paint them is I get a little claustrophobic sometimes in Bermuda. Somerset West is not exactly rural but there is a lot more big sky there.“We live in the mountains back home. I love that feeling of space stretching on into the distance. In Bermuda, I can only find that looking out at the ocean. Somerset West is about 15 kilometres from the seas so we can see it, but it is so stormy and deep and full of great white sharks you couldn’t get more different from the pretty civilised water you have here.”Her favourite places to paint in Bermuda include Crawl Hill, and the Railway Trail along the North Shore, where she can see the sky.Ms Tolson has a Master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Stellenbosch.She describes herself as a “Jill of all trades”. She has illustrated children’s books, taught dance, worked as a photographer and also taught in university. She currently teaches classes at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation.“My goal as a painter is simply to be able to spend more time each day painting,” she said.Cloudscapes and Skylines runs until July 13. The Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard is open every day from 10am to 5pm.Useful website: www.emilytol son.com.