In his first Bermuda show, opening at the Edinburgh Gallery on Friday, the illustrator and designer of Daniel Blagg's bestselling `Bermuda Atlas & Gazetteer' will be exhibiting original, "much freer'' Bermuda works alongside some of the original watercolours commissioned for the book.

24-year old Luca Gasperi, already making a name for himself in Caribbean art circles, has been visiting -- and painting -- Bermuda for the past six years.

Presently working in New York as a graphic designer, Gasperi, whose parents own a cattle ranch on the rural south shore of Saint Croix, studied at the Parsons School of Design.

Although he sees similarities between his island home and Bermuda, Mr. Gasperi says he is fascinated by the clear division of seasons here.

"Several of my paintings are of Devonshire Bay and I think it's interesting that some of them showed what it was like before hurricane `Felix' hit two years ago. And,'' he adds, "I love to paint Bermuda in all seasons, especially trying to capture the change in light during the spring and winter.'' His vivid paintings of Saint Croix reflect what he calls "the last idyllic moments of a changing Caribbean.'' To a large extent, he believes that this is also true of his Bermuda work which, he says, echoes a similar crossroads as more and more open space and natural beauty is lost to development.

Mr. Gasperi especially hopes that his Bermuda paintings will help motivate the younger generation to take a pride in their Island heritage.

`Luca Gasperi' opens at the Bermuda Society of Arts' Edinburgh Gallery at City Hall on February 20 and runs through March 7.

BERMUDA BLUES -- New York-based graphic artist Luca Gasperi -- well known throughout Caribbean art circles -- gets set to hang his latest works at the Edinburgh Gallery, at Hamilton City Hall.