When the exhibition of abstracts by Kevin Morris and Stella Shakerchi opens at the Masterworks Foundation's Arrowroot Factory in the Botanical Gardens on Friday it will mark the first time the two artists have worked together on the same canvases. Both are well known individual exhibitors in local art circles, but this is a new collaboration about which they are excited.

"There is a lot of vibrancy and immediate energy in the paintings," Miss Shakerchi says. "There are quite a few artists in Britain (and fashion designers) who are working in twos. It is a trend that I find very interesting, and would like to look into further."

Only five of the 35 works in the exhibition will be collaborative, however, and while Miss Shakerchi says they are "two very different people" and normally go their separate ways, as artists they have found a synergy which not only works but also which they fully intend to develop further.

"We are going to do shows in England next year, so as Kevin is Bermudian and I am British, we will also be representing the two countries, and we are also considering New York."

Meanwhile, the artists are looking forward to sharing their paintings with the public.

"It has been a lot of hard work, and sometimes Kevin and I worked right through the night because it was really important to keep the energy going," Miss Shakerchi says.

Mr. Morris, who is an entirely self-taught abstract artist, has enjoyed working with his fellow artist.

"I have never done that before, and I wasn't sure how it would go, but it was really good to work with somebody else, and I am looking forward to doing it again," he says.

Miss Shakerchi, who holds degrees from the University of Wales, Birmingham University Shakespeare Institute, and Oriel College, Oxford, taught art at Oxford, and was also the founding editor and designer of `The Mason Croft Review', the annual publication of the Shakespeare Institute. She has exhibited extensively in Britain and Bermuda, and her work is in private collections in Europe, New York and Bermuda. She is also a published poet.

As an artist, her philosophy is "to hint, not explain".

"You could travel miles looking for inspiration or find it in a split second," she says. "Lasting art has connotations: it is something to always look for. When working, I try not to be afraid of appearing quixotic in this search."