As one of Bermuda?s leading landscape artists, Sheilagh Head needs no introduction. Apart from the many exhibitions in which she has participated since arriving here in 1960, her work is a cherished part of many private and public collections, including Government House and the corporate world.

Overseas, the story is the same. She has exhibited in galleries in London, New York and Boston, and her work has also been much sought after by private and corporate collectors.

Mrs. Head is an elected member of the Copley Society in Boston, America?s oldest non-profit art association representing more than 700 professional artists drawn from all over the US. Over the years, the Society?s galleries have shown work by Picasso, Whistler, John Singer Sargeant and Monet.

Now it is the ACE Group of Companies which has chosen to feature this artist?s work in a solo exhibition to be opened by Lady Vereker at its global headquarters on Woodbourne Avenue tomorrow evening.

?ACE is delighted to have the opportunity to showcase work of Sheilagh?s calibre in its gallery,? a spokesperson says.

?Sheilagh is widely recognised as one of our leading landscape painters, and has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to Bermuda?s visual culture. The ACE Gallery likes to showcase both international and local artists of calibre, and has hosted approximately 12 exhibitions since opening five ago.?

Other local artists which have been featured include Graham Foster, Peter Harron and Betsy Mulderig.

?We try to carefully balance the exhibits of local and international, as well as ACE?s own art collection in the Gallery,? the spokesperson says. ?We also like to partner with organisations to bring exhibitions to the community.?

Past collaborations have been with the Bermuda National Gallery on the Lee Miller Exhibition; the Bermuda Archives on ?Celebrating Faces? (19th and 20th century Bermudian photographers), and partnering with the Bermuda National Trust on historical marine art from international auctioneers Christie?s.

Mrs. Head, who trained with famed British artist David Hockney?s teacher, Norman Stevens, and whose medium is oil on canvas, has been preparing for her ACE Gallery exhibition for the past 18 months.

As always, the paintings will reflect her passion for the Island she loves. Indeed, it is the artist?s never-ending concern for the systematic destruction of its beauty by rampant building that drives her to capture what she can before it is all gone.

?I have tried not to do just ?views of Bermuda?,? she says. ?It is much more a feeling of Bermuda ? not just to paint what is in front of me, but my emotions about Bermuda, and how absolutely devastated I am about all the indiscriminate building, which is taking away our character and beauty. It is heartbreaking, it really is.?

Mrs. Head cites what she calls the ??McMansions? and ?McCondos?; ridge line developments; 12 acres of pristine land designated ?woodland reserve? stripped off despite the developers entering into a covenant that they would never, ever touch it, and who have now ploughed through it to make a totally illegal driveway? as just some examples of her concerns.

?I am trying to celebrate the beauty that was Bermuda, and at least try to document my feeling about my adopted homeland. Sometimes I feel like I am painting with one hand while the other is raised to stop the encroachment of the bulldozer,? she says.

Yet all is not completely lost in Mrs. Head?s opinion. As unimpressed as she is about the rampant assault upon Bermuda?s one-charming landscape, equally she is very impressed by all the positive developments taking place in relation to new opportunities for the young.

?For once it seems there are some very real opportunities for young people on the Island,? she says. ?I think the Kaleidoscope project of getting children into art at an early age and encouraging them is a brilliant idea and I really like the concept.?

The Sloop Foundation project is also laudable. In fact, Mrs. Head began taking an interest in the vessel from the very beginning when she saw the drawings being laid out on the floor of the yard where it was built in Rockport, Maine.

Follow-up trips allowed her to witness its progress at first hand, and she was also present at the launching ? each occasion bringing an emotional lump to her throat as she shared with the builders and everyone else involved the pride in ?s creation and beauty.

?I love that the Sloop Foundation aims to give young people discipline and a sense of teamwork ? of working together to really achieve something,? she says.

?The Foundation is not something to which money is given and then ?go away?. Instead, it is a long process that has something at the end of it which is very real.?

The work of the National Dance Foundation is another concept which Mrs. Head greatly admires.

?What a huge opportunity for young people to get together and see that there are people who have worked and toiled and gotten through the process in order to achieve their careers,? she says. ?They didn?t just produce something, like a bunny out of a hat, but became wonderful dancers and choreographers through real, hard work.?

In fact, the artist firmly believes in young people being given the creative freedom to pursue their dreams.

?As a kid all I ever wanted to do was paint, and while I was fortunate enough to have a grandmother who was an artist, I can remember my father saying to me, ?You?d better have something else as a back-up. You can?t just go and starve in a garret.?

?Similarly, just because there are no commercial galleries here, you don?t say to young people, ?There?s no point in going into Fine Arts because there is no way you are ever going to support yourself? because I have fine artist friends in the US who have representation across the country and are doing well.?

Turning to her solo exhibition at ACE, Mrs. Head says it has been ?fantastic and a privilege? to work with Kristen Badenduck (vice-president, administration) and Danjou Anderson (functions and environmental services coordinator) in preparing for tomorrow?s opening.

?Danjou is very professional in his ability to curate and hang shows, and I am very, very grateful to ACE for giving me this opportunity. This is not a commercial venture, and sales are not my focus. ACE is simply lending me gallery space. The company?s main purpose is a celebration of the artist and his/her work.?