an artist -- she is too lazy'' grew up to become one of the most famous artists working in America today.

Her paintings are in many permanent collections of the top museums and galleries in the United States. To name a few prestigious places where her art can be seen: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in New York; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; Yale University in Connecticut. Having achieved fame for her oil and pastel depictions of glass objects, fruit and flowers, her work has also been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Europe, Canada, Australia, South America and Japan.

The artist is Janet Fish, and she has just returned to her childhood home for the first time in 20 years. To show that there are no hard feelings, part of this visit has been devoted to arranging an exhibition of her work, as a fund-raiser for her old school. It is due to take place next October, and promises to be one of the most prestigious art shows ever staged in Bermuda.

"I think the thing I had forgotten about Bermuda is how lush it is, and how many different kinds of flowers there are,'' she said, noting also, that she was very surprised to see that many of the places she remembered as open fields are now totally covered in houses. "It has changed a lot, but every now and then, I recognised something.'' The granddaughter of noted American impressionist, Clark Vorhees, who spent his winters on the Island, she has visited his old home and studio, Tranquillity, in Somerset. On this fleeting visit, however, Janet Fish has not had time to paint: "It takes me two or three days to do even a small painting. I'm very tempted to come back, but it's a question of fitting it in, and to come at a time when the weather is good for painting.'' She believes, however, that growing up in Bermuda had a profound effect on her work and the way in which she paints: "So I wanted to come back and see if I could figure it all out. When you live here, you automatically accept all that colour and light, which is very intense in Bermuda. The chief subject of my work has been the light, but when you go to a place, you need enough time to get to know it.'' Every place, she added, has its own light, singling out New York as being "mainly browns and greys'' and Vermont, where she maintains a studio, as being browns and greens.

During her visit, Ms Fish has also acted as a juror for the National Gallery's Biennial show, The Best of Bermuda, scheduled for next spring, and featuring the work of local artists.

"There are some very good artists here,'' she said, "also a lot of amateurs.

It is a small island. The other jurors know more about the people and I would say that made the jury more generous than would normally be the case. But I do think they are trying hard to make it a good show and to show the gallery off.'' Ms Fish feels that bringing in exhibitions like the current African art show is important in opening peoples' eyes to new artistic possibilities and should help to raise the Island's standards. "This will be their first biennial, and if it works, it could be really positive. Art societies basically show one another's work, so the idea of having a show that goes beyond that is a good thing.'' Although born in Boston, Janet Fish came to Bermuda as a baby and was educated at the Bermuda High School before going off to Smith College and then to Yale University where she obtained her Masters in Fine Arts.

"When I went off to live in New York, I had no money, no heat, no hot water.

I was determined not to take a part-time job -- and was just as determined that there was no point in being poor unless I painted exactly what I wanted to paint.'' As a realist painter, she was acutely aware that she was going against the tide when she opted to paint flowers, rather than the abstracts that were (and are) all the rage.

"I don't think that realism will be accepted for another 20 years. It's very threatening, as people have invested an enormous amount of money to promote what is now really an academy where students have been trained to see only one kind of work.'' She was, she added, surprised to see so few artists working in that style in Bermuda.

In another interview, she has commented that when she began to paint still lifes, in her last year at Yale, her high-flying student friends (many of whom, such as Brice Marden, Nancy Graves, Chuck Close, Bob and Sylvia Mangold) went on to great success and "everybody stopped talking to me''. This, she discovered, was another form of freedom, allowing her to paint as she wished, with few pressures from anxious dealers.

In spite of her refusal to follow artistic fashion, Janet Fish has become a highly successful artist who commands high prices for her work. This, she said, was "completely unexpected, as most of the other artists I knew were poor, and I really expected to be poor, too.'' She had always planned on being an artist, rather in the way, she commented, that other kids dream of driving a fire engine. The artistic influence in her home, was profound. Besides her grandfather, her mother, Florence Fish, was a well-known sculptor and a great friend and colleague of Billie Lang, whose best-known sculptures in Bermuda form the reredos in the Anglican Cathedral.

"I worked with Billie Lang when I was in my teens,'' she recalled. "She was great. I remember her always telling me something would turn up, don't worry about the future, and somehow, things will happen.'' Although her grandfather died before she was born, his pictures were "all around us''.

Originally, she said, it was her ambition to become a sculptor: "Billie Lang gave us lessons -- clay everywhere. In exchange, we had to work, like sweeping the studio floor and generally cleaning up. I can remember making a little Henry Moore-ish sculpture and a mobile -- now, I wonder where they got to?'' The prevailing influence of the stark Bauhaus school at Yale did not fit in with her desire to use colour, so she went into painting.

Despite her own personal success, Janet Fish believes that most women artists still do not get their due in the art world.

"The New York Times just ran an article on the Pace Gallery, which they described as Yale, Pale and Male,'' she chuckled. "There are still art departments where there are no women teachers. A lot of subject matter is looked down on because it is considered feminine -- that's taboo, if you want to be a `serious' artist. Things like flowers, and babies seem to frighten people. They want things that will look good in a man's den.'' She added that, at art school, it was considered a compliment to be told, "you paint like a man''. "I,'' she said,"am just looking forward to the time when painting like a woman is considered to be just as good!'' Recently, she added, she was asked to judge an art show and she awarded all the big prizes to women: "All I was looking for was quality, and it just so happened that all the really good work was by women. There is still a big prejudice against women in art, but I thought that (women receiving awards) was a very good sign.'' JANET FISH -- Famed American artist who grew up in Bermuda has been visiting her childhood home for the first time in 20 years.

PASTORAL PLUS STILL LIFE -- Internationally acclaimed artist Janet Fish skillfully executed Cows are Out in oils. The painting is 38'' by 64''.

STILL LIFE WITH PARROT -- This painting, executed by Ms Fish, measures 52'' square.