Artist Manuel Palacio is no stranger to the local art scene with his vibrant splashes of colour.

On seeing his work, one takes a journey away from the pretty pastels of Bermuda to the hot, heated and passionate places of his birth.

When asked what art meant to him, he came back with: “Art means everything to me. Art is an expression of me - the life I live - love or hate!

“It reflects me and I reflect it. Consciously or more accurately my subconscious, what I really mean. Art reveals!”

Mr. Palacio's medium is mixed media but he loves anything with a bright colour.

“I love oil paint because it has the ability to take on any characteristic and it reveals your level or lack of confidence with a single stroke,” he said.

He said his inspiration is based on being “admired for making great piece of art, among other things”.

“The general theme for all my work, I think, is my joy for the life I am living, and the things I admire most,” said Mr. Palacio.

“And all the things that make me feel happy or angry enough to try to make a change.”

The father of three works full-time as a CedarBridge Academy art teacher and paints whenever he can lay a brush on a piece of canvas.

“I try to live all the minutes of my life as an exercise in creativity,” he said.

“I paint full time, but I have to work full-time to support it; right now I'm teaching full time to create art that I love to see.”

Mr. Palacio said creating a painting usually last about the time of a normal working week.

“Roughly, most pieces take about 40 hours with me, some more and some less,” he said, “But usually if I spend a week on a painting that is adequate time. I am not fortunate to create a piece of art that takes a year to finish. I hope that, that will come before I die.”

His favourite piece of art is something that is very much a part of him. “I love all my work, but if I had to choose any art that means a lot to me right now, that would be the tattoos of my children's artwork on my arm,” he said. “They look wicked and mean so much to me.

“I would like to include my Gombey pieces ‘National Treasure' to give them more exposure and a chance to sell, I believe they are the best Gombey paintings I ever seen.

“Moreover, the portrait of Bob Marley, I have prints of it I would like to sell as well, with the money I could promote my Gombey pieces.”

“I always knew I was an artist,” he said, “Art been a part of me for as long as I can remember.

“I am a graduate of the Maryland Institute Collage of Art; Art school is a great place to discover people with the love and passion for a single colour or line.”

His last show was at the Kafu Gallery in the autumn of 2004 and he hopes that showing at the Bermuda Society of Arts will help with exposure.

“My last show was at Kafu, the difference is this building (the BSoA) has a lot of exposure and potential for sale,” he said.

Mr. Palacio said he would show with anyone who shares his passion for art and it did not really matter that all the artists were from a particular region.

“Heritage Month does not really mean much to me either, it is all one world, one day and one moment to me. “I feel fortunate always to be in a position to exhibit art; people's adulation for my work makes me feel good.

“But what I love about West Indian Art and artists is that they remind me of my family and myself. I miss them, my family and my culture a lot.”