'Embrace Bermuda's serenity' was the advice from current Masterworks' artist-in-residence, Gustav Vermeulen of South Africa.

Mr. Vermeulen will be giving a slideshow of his work at Masterworks this evening.

"In Bermuda, one doesn't have to move away from the beauty and the serene element in the country," he said. "I fully believe that artists should focus more on that and practise that in their discipline. There is nothing wrong with looking at the serene elements."

He said that because Bermuda has such a stable political background compared to places like his home country, it is okay to focus less on protest art, if that is what the artist chooses.

"Artists do, to an extent, need to look at what they have, and work on top of that," he said. "The serenity, and the natural beauty of the Island is definitely something that artists should be looking at whether it is more in a figurative quality or whether it is more in an abstract way."

He said Bermudians are lucky to live in such a stable and fortunate society.

"So, for me, as someone who comes in here, it is obviously interesting," he said. "And I am detached from the real problems.

"If there are any real life-threatening problems I am not part of it. That is not to say that local artists should not do this or not that. I would like to encourage people to think and see that Bermuda has quite a lot of stability and strong unity. For a country to be so peaceful for so many years is amazing."

When Mr. Vermeulen was growing up in Potchefstroom, South Africa, many people did not see art as a viable career.

"I did a degree in psychology and I also worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs," he said.

But as time went on, he became more convinced that art was really what he wanted to study.

"In 1997, I started my studies at the University of Pretoria in South Africa," he said. "Then I lectured at the University of Pretoria for two years."

After that, he went on to a private design school which offers drawing, illustration and graphic design and animation.

He is now head of drawing and illustration at the Open Window School of Visual Communication in South Africa.

But he said the psychology degree has influenced his art in that it has taught him to delve beneath the surface.

"Sometimes things that you must look at are more than what you see," he said.

He considers himself to be a traditionalist in terms of his art rather than an experimentalist. He frequently works in charcoal in South Africa, but while in Bermuda he has turned more towards oil painting to express himself.

"I am inclined to think I am not working in the mainstream," he said. "I do more landscapes. I sometimes explore and analyse the landscapes.

"That is the basis that I am working in the moment in Bermuda as well. I am trying to interpret the real traditional value, not only just in terms of the population, but the archaeology."

Mr. Vermeulen said he recently enjoyed a visit to the archeology lab in St. George's. He said he wanted to incorporate more historical events into his Bermuda work.

His slideshow this evening will include an overview of his working process.

"It is not a model," he said. "It is just how I am doing it. There is quite a range of stuff that will be shown including work that I have done in the past and work that I have done now.

"It is to give a little bit of my rationale to the viewers. That is part of the Masterworks' artist-in-residence programme."

He became acquainted with the programme a few years ago on a visit to the Island.

"I was encouraged by friends to apply for it," he said. "The Masterworks artist-in-residence programme is a marvelously good idea, for the Island itself.

"It is great to invite artists to come here, being that it is geographically secluded.

"It has been great being here. It is so delightful and a happy place. I really enjoy the weather. It is very different from what we have in South Africa at the moment."

Unfortunately, he arrived in Bermuda just before the World Cup kicked off earlier this summer.

"I am extremely proud of what the country did in presenting the soccer World Cup," he said. "I was already here. I experienced it as an observer.

"I did miss it. I did go to some of the games while I was in South Africa. I was looking very critically from the point of how the media portrayed South Africa. I think it was an amazing opportunity for the country and they did very well in presenting it. That was an extra something that I was feeling."

Doors at Masterworks will open at 5.30 p.m. The slideshow starts at 6 p.m. The entry fee is $5.

Donations are also accepted. All proceeds go to the artist-in-residence fund. There will be no advance ticket sales and refreshments will be served.

The artist will also be giving a show of his work opening September 16 at the Masterworks Gallery at the Botanical Gardens in Paget.

For more information on Mr. Vermeulen visit www.art.co.za.

For more information on Masterworks visit www.bermudamasterworks.com.