Artist and teacher Wayne (Tony) DeSilva debuts at the Ace Gallery tonight in an exhibition which draws from his life and which is happening thanks to his wife.

Whitney Institute Middle School art teacher has experimented with making ceramic masks for more than 20 years and tonight he will feature some of that work in his show called 'Behind the Mask'.

He was the first of six siblings to go to university and although he was not afraid of heading off, he was afraid of heading off alone. His mask was the façade of being confident when he was seriously frightened.

His other fear was whether he would get along with his roommate, so when he met his Nigerian roommate adorned with tribal scars, he turned his fear into a learning experience.

One of the things that interested him most of all was the scarification or tribal marks.

"I was intrigued about that, because I was concerned about pain," said Mr. DeSilva. "He shared with me that he and a bunch of young men had to go out into the woods for three weeks and as a result they are a part of the tribe.

"I asked all sorts of questions about marriages, why he wore the dashikis and so on and all that type of stuff, because I was just amazed.

"I had several roommates, but he was the best and as I tell my kids in school, if you come into contact with someone who is more knowledgeable take advantage of that. Get as much out of it as possible."

Mr. DeSilva is a descendant of the slaves who built the Cobb's Hill Methodist Church, in Warwick. "So I felt that history was all caught up into me too," he said. Whilst at university his mentor Dr. Clifton Pearson taught him a lot. "His whole thing was African ethnicity," he said. "He was getting into the garments and the cultural aspect of different things in Africa. I see me now doing a lot of what he did.

"I would be invited to his house and his kitchen table was where he did a lot of his work. After dinner would come out his work and his medium was clay."

His road to becoming an art teacher was set by his French teacher at Sandys Secondary School (now Sandys Middle School). "I remember going in her class and she said, 'this is one of my last years and I think you might want to take a trip upstairs [to the art class]'."

Mr. DeSilva always wondered whether the face that people showed was actually how they felt inside.

"The whole idea of masks is trying to understand people a little bit and I wondered if sometimes the face that they present is necessarily the true face or what is behind the mask."

During his practicum experience, he was placed at a high school that was almost entirely Caucasian and although he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to teach there, he said it was one of the best experiences that he had. "The lady [art teacher] in charge of my practicum experience, quickly pointed out this young lady who had attempted suicide on four occasions," said Mr. DeSilva. "I could see the slashes on her wrists. She had never spoken to anyone there and was pretty much always to herself, but gradually through the clay medium I was able to draw her out of that. So behind that mask in terms of that type of personality, there was someone saying, 'please, somebody help me?'

"I remember coming down the hall and her shouting, 'everyone, that is my art teacher'. I don't know what has come of her, but I'd like to think a little bit of what I did helped in bringing about a positive outcome."

His wife, Carol Ross-DeSilva, loves his work and sometimes hangs it when she thinks it is complete. "My wife is my greatest fan," he said. "She knew that I would never do this on my own."

In September of this year he began feeling somewhat depressed and at a teacher's workshop Sharon Wilson encouraged him to do more with his art, and told him, you only live once.

It was at that time that his wife decided she was going to take his art to the next level if he didn't and although he wasn't initially comfortable about having a show, he knew it was time.

She contacted the Ace Gallery's Amy Shillingford and asked whenther it was possible to hang his work in the gallery for his 50th birthday celebration. Without his knowledge, she had professional photos taken of his work and Ms Shillingford contacted her on his birthday in October to give her the go ahead.

And it was during his birthday dinner, with daughters Aysha and Zariah, when the announcement was made and she presented him with the photos.

"My wife said, 'I have a surprise for you'. And she told him about the December opening.

Mrs. Ross-DeSilva said: "It was like the air drained out of the room, because he is such a joker. And one of my daughters said, 'it's not that he is not happy, it is just out of his comfort zone'.

"I am so proud of him, he needed that extra push and this is for his 50th birthday"

'Behind the Mask' opens at the Ace Gallery tonight from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.