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The initial impact and generally high quality of the Bermuda Society of Arts Members? Winter (read Christmas) Show just opened at their City Hall gallery attests to the continuing vitality of this newly resurgent artists? cooperative.

Just to walk in the door gives one something of a rush. Colourful and alive with talent, there are well over 100 works in this unjuried show.

Quality, of course, varies considerably and almost every medium is represented in such a show, making it hard to write about. The only thing in notably short supply is sculpture.

There are two small bronzes by Elizabeth Ann Trott, ?Cooling Out? being one of her inimitable and far too infrequent portrayals in unflattering but wholly endearing postures.

Small as it is, it is easily missed. Don?t; it is a highlight of the show. There are also two cedar sculptures by Kok Wan Lee,clearly in the school of Chesley Trott and that?s it for sculpture.

Otherwise outstanding in the show are the photographs of Theresa Airey. This is hardly surprising as Ms Airey has an international reputation and has done Bermuda invaluable service in restoration work on our considerable archive of historic photographs.

For me the haunting and mysterious ?Dark Angel? and the vertiginous and highly perspectived ?Farm in ?The Lakes?, England? were standouts.

For rapid improvement Giles Campbell?s watercolours hit the eye. One may suspect that he has been working under the tutelage of Bermuda?s master watercolourist, Chris Marson.

Some of the working characteristics used to such effect by Marson are to be detected in Mr Campbell?s treatments. ?Ice, Lube and gas?, an original take on the water side of the Boaz Island gas station, was particularly successful.

So too was ?Devonshire Resonance? with admirably treated water and rocks. Tilt out of the vertical or horizontal can be used for deliberate effect, but when it affects a work unintentionally it can detract.

Underlying structure is always important. Such is the trouble with ?Bermuda Sentry?. I wouldn?t pick if I didn?t think Mr. Campbell had such great potential.

Chai T, in a genre work of otherwise considerable charm and effect falls victim to this problem with a horizon that isn?t level. The horizon is always level; where it isn?t, it?s upsetting.

Chai T?s work, ?Discovery? was anyway seriously disadvantaged by being hung next to the single work by Otto Trott.

?Banana Patch? is Trott at his best. It is an uncomplicated study of the shapes and textures, the light and shade of banana leaves and this painting is rich, lush, and splendidly satisfying.

It grinds no axe, makes no political statement, has no message; all it does is sooth the soul. The world is the better for such paintings.

Batik is a medium with which strong vibrant colours are usually associated.

Joyce Beale has a collection of batiks in this show that are the diametric opposite of the expected. Muted, soft colours, spare colour schemes and thoughtful compositions prevail.

One of them I think I have seen before, or one of the same architectural subject, a receding, climbing staircase winding through ancient walls to an almost occluded doorway. I still liked it particularly.

A group of pastels by Dean Walker were of unusual strength for the medium and were distinguished for an excellent treatment of rough water, not a subject over which many artists have such control.

Linda Vickers does nothing if not present contrasts. ?Stable Horse? is painted on rough boards, themselves part of the stable composition to considerable effect. Also on boards, less rough this time, was ?Sunflowers and Butterflies?, a work only slightly marred by the addition of a spattering of glitter.

The contrast between these and her other work could not be more extreme. Ms Vickers may not be familiar with paintings on black velvet, now happily out of style even in Las Vegas, but her other works would not have been out of place in that school.

A suffocating still life of ?Bermuda Roses? in sickly pink was crammed into an oval frame of truly Victorian horror and might as well have gone over the top onto black velvet.

Technically it was close to faultless, but it could just as well have been shown in Margate 150 years ago. ?Sailing at Sunset? was of a similar nature.

Susan Parker?s restful, pale ?Waves Crashing? was indeed of the title subject, but so gentle and understated was the colour scheme that the waves crashed in perfect peace.

I don?t remember seeing Ms Parker?s work before, but look forward to seeing more. Not restful but vibrant and alive were the children playing in Jackie Stevenson?s ?Dashing About?, an impressionistic rendering with all the spark of life and admirable treatment of the waves in which the children were running.

Jarlath Rickward?s photographs are in the same category; ?Caught in the Act? is a brilliantly conceived shot of a fisherman casting his net which works in contrapuntal synchrony with waves in the background, the whole backlit with golden dawn light an exciting work.

In a show as large as this I am sure I am not the only viewer who would like to see all the works of a single artist gathered together. To have to mill about in the gallery revisiting a work that one needs to compare with another is both tiresome and needless.

Otherwise, as always, the Bermuda Society of Arts is one of the best places in Hamilton to spend a free hour.