their flocks? Traditionally, men and women of the cloth are perceived as pious beings who devote their entire lives to the work of God, with neither time nor thought for anything else. But as one clergyman pointed out: "We're human beings too.

We have other interests.'' Today, we continue our intermittent series about the clergy and their hobbies, in which we go behind the collars and learn about their favourite pasttimes.

If God hadn't called, Salvation Army Captain Mark Cummings would be teaching art in high school today. That was to be his career -- until one night when his destiny was changed.

"I remember it very clearly,'' the genial Captain said. "I was at the University of Toronto pursuing my Fine Arts degree when God told me he wanted me to enter the Salvation Army. I told Him I couldn't possibly do that, I was going to be a high school art teacher. We argued quite a lot, and God won, so here I am.'' "Here'' for Captain Cummings is the Salvation Army citadel on Cambridge Road, Somerset -- his first posting outside Canada, where he is joined by wife Lynn and sons Andrew and Luke.

The career change hasn't meant the Captain putting his impressive artistic talents on hold -- far from it. Apart from crates of his work left behind in Canada, his Bermuda home is filled with fine examples of his work -- so much so that he's running out of wall space. The rest hang on the walls of friends.

"I've done 36 portraits in the last 15 months -- that's about two a month,'' he related, "and I have given most of those away.'' Although he does beautiful landscapes, Captain Cummings' favourite pursuit is portraits. Family members, friends, neighbours, people he meets casually -- all are grist for this artist's mill.

"Something happens when I do a portrait,'' he explained. "For the time I am working on it, the subject and I become almost like one. I cannot look at a person that closely and not become attached to them because so much of me has gone into the drawing.'' He is also constantly searching for new artistic experiences. Typical of these was a runner he beheld on Horseshoe Bay.

"I am an artist who likes to push myself, and I had never done a figure in action before. The man running intrigued me so much I began a conversation with him, which is not a normal thing for me to do, and asked him if he would mind my doing a picture of him running along the beach. He agreed.'' With that hurdle successfully completed, Captain Cummings then took up the challenge of a body builder in the Mr. Bermuda contest.

"Muscles created a whole new set of nuances for me, and it turned out well,'' he said. "The man was very pleased.'' Because he enjoys being challenged, incidents such as these delight the Captain, as has his mastery of painting black people -- another first since coming here.

"Painting a white person is different because you work from the white to a shade,'' he explained. "When you are dealing with a black person you almost do it in reverse, so I was a little nervous about what I was doing, but I am pleased with the way the portraits have turned out,'' he explained.

Like all artists, Captain Cummings' eye is constantly searching for nuances -- the effects of light, interplay of textures, moods and angles -- to capture on paper, for this, along with pencils and watercolours, is his media.

Even a casual glance at his collection reveals a very sensitive artist who mixes realism with soul in a particularly appealing way. There is a natural, relaxed charm about all of his portraits, which capture ordinary individuals in ordinary circumstances -- just as we find them in real life.

And for this the Captain has an explanation.

"I don't like formal portraits when the people look stiff and starchy. Who looks like that in real life?'' he reasoned.

Consequently, his subjects may be captured with an untied shoe lace, rumpled socks, a baggy undershirt, and even hairy legs.

Because his schedule does not permit working at length with any subject, Captain Cummings begins all of his work with a camera.

"First, I take many pictures of my subject. In the case of people, I tell them how to sit because there are certain things I am looking for -- smooth and rough: the texture of skin against clothing -- because I want the portrait to be interesting for me as well. Sometimes I tell them to remove their shirt and drape it over a shoulder. I may not use that picture but it is the texture I am looking for.

"Afterwards we will go through the pictures and pick one that we like, and I go from there,'' he explained.

Like all clergymen, Captain Cummings' ministry is a very busy one, so art gets squeezed into whatever spare time he can muster. The lack of continuity can be trying, of course, but he has learned to live with it because he knows God's work comes first.

Nonetheless, there are times when his art proves a wonderful escape from the stresses and pressures of ministering to his flock. Crosshatching, for example, -- a precise technique using tiny strokes of the pencil -- is a very time-consuming and all-absorbing process.

"It is a great way to relieve stress and tension because it demands all of my attention,'' Captain Cummings admitted. "It is as if you are in another world, you forget about everything.'' Incredibly, perhaps, this third generation Salvationist gives almost all of his art away -- because he sees it as part of his ministry.

"I am not a cartoonist and cannot do what they call chalk talks -- illustrating stories as they are being told to an audience -- so I decided that giving away my work would be a way of expressing my gratitude to God for the gifts he has given me, and it would also be a way of letting people know that God's gifts don't cost anything. I see art as part of my ministry.'' This philosophy leads Captain Cummings to choose subjects who would not otherwise be able to afford original art -- and coincidentally it is also part of what makes his collection so charming.

"I am selective because I don't want people to get the impression I am one who can be taken advantage of,'' he explained. "Most of the people for whom I have done works could not afford to have an original piece of art done anyway.'' Like all artists whose work is cherished, however, Captain Cummings sometimes finds it difficult to refuse requests. He once painted, as a gift for his mother-in-law, a particular scene as it looked in the winter, and later followed it up with the same scene in autumn. Perhaps inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons , the lady then declared she "needed'' the spring and summer versions too! Another case in point was honouring a request from his neighbour, former Commissioner of Prisons Mr. Milton Pringle, who had long wanted the Captain to paint his home. At his retirement party, Mr. Pringle was the totally surprised recipient of that very work.

From the childhood days when an aunt encouraged him to work on colouring books, through graduating from high school with 100 percent for art, and on to Toronto University, Captain Cummings has come a very long way as an artist.

Even if he didn't parlay his Fine Arts degree into a full-time career he has no regrets about his chosen path.

"God has enriched my life in so many other ways that I couldn't be happier,'' he assured.

TO THE GLORY OF GOD ... Salvation Army Captain Mark Cummings sees art as part of his ministry, and particularly enjoys portraiture. Although surrounded by these examples of his work, many more have been given away to grateful subjects of his choosing.