If the Island's art critics have ever been tempted to describe the work of noted Bermudian painter Elizabeth Mulderig as dreamy, they could be excused if they did so now.

Not dreamy, of course, in the sense of exquisite -- though many of Ms Mulderig's creations certainly are that -- but dreamy in the sense that most of the works in the artist's latest exhibition of paintings have been inspired by her nocturnal visions.

Titled "Dreamscapes,'' the exhibition of 22 works has just moved from the Masterworks Foundation's Bermuda House Lane gallery, where it kicked off the organisation's controversial "Bermuda Up Front...Street'' series, to the dining room of the Plantation restaurant in Bailey's Bay.

For Ms Mulderig, who divides her time between Bermuda and New York City, the assemblage is the culmination of some two and a half years of artistic sweat and tears.

At the same time, the artist told Living recently, the process of recording her dreams for use as creative material represented the first time in which she realised that her visions were played out in colour.

"One painting in particular, `Penguin Egg,' is a result of that realisation,'' Ms Mulderig explained.

"In creating that painting, I recalled the images precisely, and was struck by the vividness of their colours.'' Bright, vivid colours have always been a hallmark of Ms Mulderig's work, which is characterised by its fantastical images and purposefully ambiguous air.

In the case of the current exhibition, however, the artist has drawn from a palette that is somewhat more muted, her two dominant colour choices being gold or silver and pastels.

The pastels, Ms Mulderig told Living, reflect the typical shadings of her Bermudian milieu, while the gold-silver combination, a particularly significant departure, was intended to represent churches, or the Church, or spirituality in general.

"I think Bermuda has a really heavy spirit behind it, a lot of ghosts,'' Ms Mulderig said of the Island she has been painting for years now. "While this may not be immediately discernible, it is the way I have always viewed the Island, or at least it's how the Island has seemed to me since I started painting it.'' One work in particular, "In spiritus sanctum,'' is most obviously reflective of this long-held perception.

According to Ms Mulderig, however, it was not inspired by any physical encounter with a spirit, but by a childhood memory.

"As a child, there was a buttery at Coral Beach that we (as children) were never allowed to enter, and which consequently assumed a heavy mystical quality,'' the artist recalled, adding that "the feelings that we had about the building are the impressions that have shaped my impressions of Bermuda, that I tried to convey in these dreamscapes.'' As a result, ordinary constructs can often become, like the buttery of Ms Mulderig's youth, heavily laden with meaning, with otherworldly connotations.

For example, the artist pointed out, the lighthouses that are a recurring motif in the current exhibition serve for Ms Mulderig as symbols of "hope, this god-like beacon,'' while the natural formations that dot many of the Island's beaches become "these sort of mediaeval arches, and all that that represents.'' As is obvious from Ms Mulderig's comments on her work and from the work itself, the process of painting is a highly visceral act for her, most typically a reaction to actual experiences in her life.

The artist admits, too, that she rarely intellectualises anything that has to do with her painting.

"I come from a family of intellectuals, and I am sort of the black sheep of that family,'' Ms Mulderig explained with a laugh. "When I paint, I usually do it intuitively, a lot of intuition comes out. And in this case, I was simply responding to and recording my dreams.'' One of two notable exceptions in the present exhibition is "Mourning the Moon,'' a paean to the Catchment Hill area that was sparked by last year's debate over the possible development of the pristine area.

The other is "Honeymoon,'' a "sardonic'' work that has sexual politics at its thematic core.

"It ("Honeymoon'') was based on the various cliches of how men and women feel about getting married,'' Ms Mulderig said, pointing out that "the women in the painting are being carried off on golden bubbles, but the men are being burdened with them.'' "It's really quite simple,'' she adds bemusedly, "a comment on the old ball and chain crack.'' As specific as the raison d'etre for these paintings may have been at the outset, however, Ms Mulderig insisted that she would rather let their viewers make their own artistic judgments.

"I get much more satisfaction from people just looking at them and drawing something of significance from them,'' she said, adding that she had "some very interesting interpretations'' of her work during the Masterworks showing, which concluded on Thursday.

"Different people were telling me different things, which is precisely what I wanted,'' Ms Muldering told Living. "I also had a few people tell me that it my strongest work yet technically.'' Rather than rest on her laurels however -- Ms Mulderig said she was personally satisfied with the current crop of paintings and had already sold three of them through Masterworks -- the artist is busy at work on her next artistic project, a series called "Bermuda Legends'' that will examine such figures of local folklore as Sally Bassett.

In the meantime, local art buffs can take in the richness of Ms Mulderig's dreamscapes at Plantation, where they will no doubt find the "something of significance'' that the artist spoke of. The works will be hanging at the restaurant until late in the spring.

"PENGUIN EGG'' -- A realisation that the artist's visions were played out in colour.

"WALKING THE PLANT'' -- "When I paint, I usually do it intuitively.'' "THE BUTTERFLY HUNT'' -- Work that's characterised by fantastical images and a purposefully ambiguous air.

"PINK PEGASUS'' -- "I think Bermuda has...a lot of ghosts.'' "MERMAIDS'' -- A rare example of intellectualisation.