Maltese artist James Micallef Grimaud first came to Bermuda to visit his girlfriend. During his second visit he stopped in at the Bermuda Society of Arts gallery, where then-curator Vicky Evans Cracknell encouraged him to become an exhibitor. On this, his third visit, he makes his local debut with a solo exhibition at the City Hall gallery.

Entitled 'My Adventures on the Shores of the Devil's Triangle', Mr. Grimaud is showing eight paintings in his favoured media: aerosol acrylic and regular acrylic paints, a combination which he says "creates depth" and gives his work "a touch of something different". He also uses brushes for detail, and prefers large canvases. In many of his pieces he mixes the figurative and the abstract, using a hard-edged technique.

Mr. Grimaud says inspiration for his five 'Bermuda' paintings came from the Island's "breathtaking views; the amazingly diverse array of people, the characters and the colours".

"Bermuda is full of characters," he says. "I got to meet a gentleman in Victoria Park who spends the day there. He was very interesting."

The happy spirit prevailing at the Good Friday kite flying festival at Horseshoe Bay surprised him, and its ambiance duly also became the subject of a painting.

"In Malta, which is a Catholic island, the people dress in black and fast on Good Friday. The weather is usually bad, and it is a very solemn day. When I came here and saw people flying kites I was kind of relieved because it is such a depressing atmosphere in Malta. We celebrate in a different way," he says.

Self-taught, Mr. Grimaud's journey as an artist began at age 15 when he used graffiti as a means of entertaining himself. Since then, apart from life drawing, he has been reluctant to attend other art classes for fear of being sucked into a style which was not his own. Instead, he paints as much as possible, and learns through constant practise and travelling.

His modus operandi is first to make sketches and then take photographs from different angles of subject matter which catches his eye. He says the initial sketches are his way of learning more about a place and getting a feel for it.

The Maltese artist has been participating in exhibitions since 2002, six of them solo. His next exhibition is in Sydney, Australia.

Meanwhile, Mr. Grimaud is the artist for the Red Bull beverage in Malta, and is currenty directing a number of murals for a European Union project based on the theme of immigration in Europe.

"The purpose of the murals, apart from bringing colour to the streets and creating a place of public memory, is to educate people about the identities of different cultures within our own, and to help integration," he says.

He is also working on a mural at the Centre for the Performing Arts and the School of Music in Malta, which will also have a theme.

As involved as he is with his art, and as much as he travels, Mr. Grimaud is also pursuing a philosophy degree in Malta.

l 'My Adventures on the Shores of the Devil's Triangle' continues through September 3. For further information see the Bermuda Calendar. Mr. Grimaud's e-mail address is: www.jamesmg.com.