Forget those images of seniors sitting at home in rocking chairs.

More active than ever, seniors in Bermuda are taking part in numerous activities – and at least four women have discovered how their lives can take on a whole new, well, shape.

Shape as in flowers, dragons, seals, horses and even a replica of Dockyard’s Clock Tower.

Edna Lorhan, Valerie Weddup, Jeannine Smith and Diana Williams have been taking art classes with artist Carlos Dowling.

At the Bermuda College they are transforming clay into beautiful sculptures.

Mr. Dowling – who spent 20 years as a working artist in New York – said: “Senior citizens are still discovering stuff.

“I them teach about the material. I teach how to see art and I help them to find the art that is already there.”

When interviewed Mrs. Lorhan she was creating a birdbath.

“It’s going in the pond and when the birds come and throw water all over the place it will just trickle out. They all come migrating for running water.”

When asked if she discovered her art late in life, she said: “I’m as good as my teacher.

“I started going up to Dockyard (Art Centre) and I started coming here on Tuesdays and Thursdays – it is sort of my Mecca.

“We are very lucky to have such a wonderful teacher. It’s fabulous.”

It’s not the first time she has worked with clay, having taken other classes with Mr. Dowling.

“We will be going to Dockyard to do some pottery classes next.”

Mrs. Weddup was making a mould of her sculpture, which features a pair of horses in an embrace.

Mr. Dowling said: “We are making a mould of it, but because of the size of this piece I was concerned if it had air bubbles it could just explode during firing.

“The whole effort would be lost, so I’ve taken the extra step and making a mould.”

Mrs. Weddup decided to make a sculpture of the horses because of her fondness for the animals.

“I am a horse lover and that is how it all started,” she said.

“I like the interaction when you are doing two things. You often see things like this, but you rarely ever think about it.

“When I look at them I can almost see the wild horses and then when their manes start to shake I love it.”

She paints and loves doing portraits.

“It is one of those things that you have to do ... it is an urge, you have to do it,” she said.

Mrs. Smith was making a candle holder out of a West End landmark.

“It is fun,” she said, “I am making a candle holder for my outside table.

“It is of the Clock Tower, in Dockyard.

“We are going to let it harden a little, it is going to look like bricks so I am drawing the lines.

“This is my first experience with clay and I’ve done a little bit of moulding with (artist) Diana Amos a few years ago. I did a few pieces that I really enjoyed, but I’ve never done sculpting before.”

Mrs. Smith likes to work with water colours and acrylics, although she never really gets a chance to exhibit.

“Someone will come to my house and see something and then they’ll ask if they can have it.

“I have one piece that I am not letting anyone take. It is a water colour that I did of Georgia O’Keeffe.

“That is the only piece that I have that is finished and is still in my house.”

When asked what she gets out of art, she said: “Pure pleasure!

“I like to make things that I can use and I love to say, ‘oh, I made this’.

“I dabble in everything. I do cake decorating, dress making and bridal dresses, I love to work with my hands.

“I do a lot of hand embroidery and that takes time.”

Mrs. Williams, meanwhile, was busy creating a hibiscus.

“It is the first time that I have did this kind of sculpting,” she said.

“I usually do papier mach?, 18th Century antique dolls, stained glass and water colours.

“I have been doing art forever, ever since I was a tiny girl.

When comparing her contemporaries to young people, she laughed, before saying: “We are far better than the youth, been there and done that!”