December 27.

The sub-heading of this entirely Christmas present-orientated exhibition is Beautiful Things Come in Small Packages IX.

Yes, and so do letter bombs, poison pen letters and demands from the taxman.

The moral of the story is it ain't necessarily so -- but there are enough small gems on show among the 99 works to make up for the rest.

For among the hackneyed, the poorly-executed and the downright tasteless are tiny treasures well worth a look if you've got more cash to spare than I have and hard-to-please friends and relatives.

Helen Daniel has a ten-strong showing, In the Lee I to X -- and each simple gouache of a flower is better than the next.

Jon Mills once again betrays his architectural training with a series of beautifully-observed and meticulous works, even more impressive given the limitations of size.

The fastidious watercolour Shrewsbury Gates leads on to a driveway which draws the eyes past the riot of greenery at the entrance and into the painting.

And he gives a nice twist to the usually unnaturally perfect and rose-tinted view of the standard-issue Bermuda cottage with Seaway Gates.

There is a hint of decay and neglect in his view of a pair of ramshackle pale blue gates, complete with peeling paint and the rot setting in at the bottom.

Well, not every Bermuda home is absolutely flawless, is it? Chris Marson's six works also stand out, with Evening Light and May 24 the best of his watercolours on show. May 24, with simple strong brushstrokes slashing the canvas, manages to give a sense of time and place while avoiding the specifics of geography.

Mark Boden's work also pleases with Evening Surf showing nice brushwork as his almost solid wall of water disintegrates at the edges into spray.

And Cathi Whiting delights with her bright and cheerful trio of oils, guaranteed, with their naive enthusiasm, to banish the deepest winter blues.

Ever-professional Diana Amos also demonstrates an interesting technique with the brush in Lilli. An almost impressionistic feel, with the boat a mere suggestion, works very well, while her watercolour Begonias packs a lot into a small space.

I am, however, slightly mystified by the exhibits from Stacey Amos, mostly on the rather precious theme of cats -- mystified as to why they were created at all and even more so why these unattractively coloured and tasteless works were thought worthy of hanging at all. Mind you, I never liked cats.

Sheilagh Head -- another talent who rarely fails to produce the goods -- was clearly in a blue-period-to-purple-patch sort of mood for this exhibition.

But I liked Ferry Reach, with the blue house nestling in riot of green picking up the colour of the water beautifully.

The exhibition is well worth visiting, even if you're not buying, to see what some of Bermuda's best can do within small borders.

---- Raymond Hainey ART REVIEW REV