Jonah Jones and Chris Marson have been exhibiting together for some years now, but their current exhibition at the Bermuda Arts Centre is exceptional. The fact that they, for this show, decided to not only exhibit together but also to produce this exhibition by actually working together, side by side and then showing the results is unusual and notable.

Indeed, I noticed that on the exhibition labels, they not only gave the usual information such as name of artist, title and such; they also gave the coordinates of painting locations, from a portable GPS system.

The exhibition is entitled, 'Double Vision'.

In choosing their working sites they, at times, decided to find some out of the way, less than picturesque areas, such as the power plant at Belco. If a person is not familiar with those places, the GPS coordinates will tell exactly where they stood to paint.

Of course, one would require a portable GPS system to match their coordinates.

The exhibition is exceptionally large. There are 159 painting on exhibit; 69 are by Chris Marson, while Jonah Jones has 90. The large size of the show, is my one major criticism of this exhibition. It is overwhelming; less would certainly have been more.

But having said that, I realise that the artists were attempting to provide something of the measure of their artistic activities this past year. And it has taken just about a year, for them to put all this together.

Furthermore, in hanging the show, it was important that the works produced at a particular site be hung together, otherwise the theme would have been pointless.

Jonah Jones is an oil painter, while Chris Marson is known for his watercolours, but recently Marson has been branching out into other media, especially oil painting.

Generally speaking, in the past, it was not difficult to distinguish between works by Jonah Jones and Chris Marson. In this show, however, I sometimes found their works to be so similar, I had difficulty telling which artist had done which is especially true when Chris Marson resorts to oil painting.

In comparing the works of these artists, I wondered which would seem the more skilful, but in the end, I gave that up as a useless exercise.

With certain paintings, I thought that perhaps Jonah Jones had the edge, but then next door it seemed Chris Marson was the more skilful.

Indeed, if you have ever been involved in creating art, you will recognise that not every day is the same.

Some days are just great and everything you do seems to go well, while at other times, nothing works for you. I am sure that these artists have also found this to be true, and in this exhibition, not everything is of the same artistic standard.

Having said that, though, it is also true that this is all relative. Both are accomplished artists, so differences in quality are minuscule.

Another reason to compare their works, however, is to experience the different ways in which the two artists viewed the scenes they were painting and to see how they interpreted them.

Over the years, I have had frequent opportunity to see the works of each of these artists, so, I believe that I am well positioned to compare this present exhibition with their past shows. It is my considered opinion that this current show is one of their best. Consider the work of Jonah Jones. In one particular sense, I compare him to John Constable, the 19th-century English landscape painter.

If you have ever had opportunity to see a reasonable number of Constable's works, you will note that his oil sketches seem fresher, more energetic and spontaneous than his larger, more finished pieces.

This is a often the case with Mr. Jones' work as well, and in this exhibition, where all the work is small to medium in size, this is definitely so.

The way this exhibition was created required that the artists work quickly on site, and thus Jonah Jones selected to work by a method known in art circles as "alla prima".

This is a painting technique, in which oil paintings are made in one sitting, usually with the use of thick impasto.

Watercolours are often made in one sitting, as well, but this term, "alla prima'', is only associated with oil painting; it is never applied to watercolours.

Chris Marson obviously works quickly. This, in one of the strengths of his watercolour paintings.

The freshness of his painting technique is what appeals to many.

There is nothing at all muddy or laboured in Marson's "aquarelles".

This word, "aquarelle", incidentally, is another artistic term, meaning transparent watercolour.

With this type of painting, the white of the paper is allowed to be the white in the painting, be it a wall, cloud or anything else that might be white. It requires a unique way of thinking, for the artist has to work from light to dark, light being the first consideration.

In the past, I thought that Chris Marson's oil paintings were more skilfully rendered than his oils. but in this exhibition I detect a leap in quality. It seems that his approach to watercolour painting did not quickly translate to oil painting, but now, it seems that he is accommodating to the new medium with notable improvement.

Indeed, his oil paintings compare well to those of Jonah.

It is a common practice, for Bermuda landscape painters to depict Bermuda without people, cars or even animals, however, Jonah Jones frequently includes people and motor vehicles. This is commendable, for of all places, Bermuda today is largely a man-made environment.

It is difficult to go anywhere and not see people. Their inclusion gives his paintings a greater sense of reality.

It is not my usual practice to write about pricing in art exhibitions.

It is really outside the parameters of art criticism, but I could not help but notice the modest prices for paintings in this exhibition.

Jonah Jones and Chris Marson are two, among a handful of successful, professional artists, here in Bermuda. (I am using the word, professional in this case to mean those who earn a living from art).

At any rate, this duo must be the envy of many, not only for their success in selling art, but doubly so, perhaps, for their lifestyle.

Both are landscape artists, which means they spend a large amount of time in the outdoors, in nature and the natural beauty around us.

At times they even paint from their boats. It seems to be a life of perpetual picnics, and to think they get paid for it too. What a wonderful way to live!

The exhibition continues through October 27.