Bermuda Society of Arts -- Members' Summer Show (unjuried) -- until August 2.

Artists in Bermuda seem obsessed by the traditional Bermuda cottage -- perhaps it's something to do with the insupportable price of property on the Island.

Whatever, it is possible to get too much of a good thing, and some of the works on show aren't particularly good anyway.

But -- that said -- the quality of an unjuried show with more than 100 separate works on show in a variety of media is bound to be varied.

And it has to be considered that everyone is pretty much an amateur and the fact that they're taking the time to try and express themselves at all -- what with the sordid business of getting a living, and all -- has to be applauded.

However -- out with the palette knife. Margaret Seymour may have been trying for the style Japonais in her "Roses.'' But her acrylic, coarsely-done pink roses on a solid green background, misses whatever mark she was aiming at by a mile.

And her "Bermuda Colours'' and "South Cove'' are primitive with glaring colours.

Continuing a Japanese theme, Natalie Bos Weekes' "Wistful Geisha'' is a strangely flat oil, with florid skin tones and clumsily executed.

But on a brighter note, Elizabeth Anne Trott's tiny bronze "Lif Ya Leg Up'' captures the joy and energy of yer typical scruffy kid beautifully.

My personal favourites were two clever acrylic-painted Bermuda stones called "Stonefish'' and "Stonefish IV.'' They were simple, neatly executed and her paintwork -- in iridescent greens, blues, oranges and yellows -- follows the natural shape of the stones producing an interesting and obviously carefully thought-out effect.

Mackay (Shocker) Todd's work was a bit of a conundrum. "Mad Men'' was cartoon-like and "Joy'' -- a portrait of a woman showed a heavy touch with colour and the brush, to vulgar effect. Painting the human hand, I may add, isn't that easy -- or so I am told -- and a little work is needed there, I think.

But his works in pencil could be by a different artist. "Girl'' is a very polished piece of work, showing a little girl with a sunny smile and eyes alive with laughter and mischief.

It shows a delicacy of line and touch -- as does another pencil work, "Love at First'' -- which is a rich and complex piece.

Jon Mills' "Neglected'' shows an interesting twist on the Bermuda cottage industry (I suppose you might call it).

His watercolour, all washed-out and sun-bleached clapboard in pale blues and greens and whites, and with a pair of battered and broken green shutters gives a slightly different slant on Bermuda architecture.

And his "Downwind Racers'' manages to capture boats in full sail -- not easy -- under a threatening sky.

Donna Lobb was another exhibitor whose work varied widely. "Nap Attack'' -- a dozing cat -- was twee and had a curious unfinished look to it.

But her "Water Pump'' captures a redundant piece of Victorian technology and its decay, with greeny-grey tones and spots of rust.

Bob Herr's After the Storm similarly rises above his other exhibits. He has spooned on the oils to create a convincing surf effect and the swirl of angry blue water.

Another two of my personal favourites were Caroline Troncossi's "Seedlings A and B.'' Two small oblong pieces of wood washed in oil, bringing out the grain of the wood are decorated with the faintest suggestion of a green shoot, reminiscent of the work of the great Scottish Art Nouveau architect and painter Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Jonah Jones -- I suspect -- is a child of the 60s. Either that, or he's been listening to too many psychedelic rock albums.

His vaguely menacing paintings of palm fronds are a bit too loud for my taste.

But "Listening to Leonard'' -- an oil of abandoned paint boxes and a palette -- is one instance where loud colours work well, with a mess of orange, green and blue oils laid on thickly enough to give a 3-D effect.

I liked it -- even though I would be prepared to bet the Leonard he was listening to was probably Cohen of that ilk, which puts a major question mark over his taste, in my book.

But -- and this bears repeating -- it is heartening that so many people on the Island are prepared to risk criticism in pursuing their own vision and are prepared to give up the more mundane concerns of life in order to do so.

To quote my former colleague Tamell Simons, a juror in the photographic exhibition in the Edinburgh Gallery: "....art forms are very subjective things. I would urge anyone to express themselves in whatever field they choose.'' RAYMOND HAINEY ART REVIEW REV