The Bermuda Society of Arts is hosting a weekend workshop designed to help artists better express themselves creatively.

Entitled 'Painting With the Inner Eye', the workshop will be taught by Hugh Dunford Wood.

He first began offering classes in 1989 while an artist-in-residence with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

"I was experimenting with the actors in ways to explore their roles," he explained.

"Subsequently I developed the workshop for groups as diverse as men's organisations, schools, homeless shelters and art centres."

Participants work in paint and clay.

Said Mr. Dunford Wood: "We play with colour, pattern and image in order to reconnect with direct feelings and responses.

"[I encourage people to] surprise yourself, let go and explore what emerges. A creative life offers each of us a foundation of optimism, abundance, encouragement and tenderness. It is never too late to begin."

Mr. Dunford Wood has exhibited in London, Europe, Japan and the States. He has balanced his work as an artist designer with studies in transpersonal psychology and art therapy.

He was classically trained at the Ruskin School of Fine Art, Oxford, in the early 1970s. Mr. Dunford Wood is also a founder of The Elder and The Ash men's events, the Lyme Regis Arts Festival and Oxford Art Week.

The idea behind this upcoming workshop is to help students with their artistic expression.

"Forget about Art with a capital A," said the instructor.

"We are all artists with a little a, a human a. This workshop has nothing to do with learning to paint in any traditional sense.

"So it is not necessary to have any experience of art you merely need the commitment to explore. The rest will follow."

Painting With the Inner Eye workshops will be held Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. All materials are provided. Admission is $150 for BSOA members and $175 for non-members.

To register, telephone 292-3824 or e-mail bsoa@ibl.bm. For more information on Mr. Dunford Wood visit www.dunfordwood.co.uk.