, a collection of works by Robin Trimingham, opens in the Edinburgh Gallery at the Bermuda Society of Arts tonight.

Comprised of a series of Bermuda-inspired oils on canvas, the exhibit is the artist's second showcase ? an impressive feat for someone who's never taken an art class.

"I woke up one night having had this dream, that there was this huge, orange-yellow painting over my sofa," she said, in explaining her first attempt at painting. "I remember thinking that it would be perfect, but wondering where I was going to find it."

She decided to create it herself.

"I bought a tiny, little paint set ? just as a joke ? and thought, 'Well, I'll do one and see what happens'. Since then, I have learned from everywhere that I go. Whenever I travel, I'll go to a gallery and see what people are doing ? it doesn't matter whether it was painted yesterday, or 500 years ago ? and I get a lot from that.

"I've now been painting, more and more seriously, for close to five years. I actually was a writer, I'd been a history major, but from doing that one little thing, I just kept going and going and going. I kept thinking, 'I've gotta paint. Gotta paint. Gotta paint'."

Eventually, Ms Trimingham said, her art demanded a complete commitment.

"It's not your typical story," she laughed. "I got to the point where I really wanted to find a way to do it full-time. Finally, I came up with this really outrageous idea. I would move off the island and buy a Bed and Breakfast. So I did. I bought a Bed and Breakfast in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is located about 15 minutes from Niagara Falls. My studio is there and I have guests and I paint. I've spent the last year pretty much doing that."

She had been encouraged in her efforts by critiques from family, friends and the arts community, Ms Trimingham said.

"You know, art is what it is," she explained. "You hang it on a wall so that you get a comment and you generally accept the comment that you get. Even if the comments are not always positive, if you engage people, I think you've achieved something ? they're talking about it; they're reacting to it.

"For me, art is a huge form of non-verbal communication (where) the people that like it are the ones that make you happy because they understood it or they got something good from it.

"I don't even know that it's up to me to say what they should get, but if they got something, that's so cool. So I have to say that everybody has been very, very supportive, very encouraging."

On display through the middle of January, the exhibit features 20 miniature oils, all of which were painted in Ms Trimingham's studio in Canada. An interesting part of the experience, she said, was discovering the scenes.

"I am Bermudian, but I don't know if anybody ever really knows Bermuda," she said. "You can look just about anywhere and find something you didn't know before. But I had a lot of favourite places and a lot of photographs and so I just sat in my studio and painted.

"I painted scenes on the beach. I've always been fascinated by clouds, so there's quite a few of those. I like sunsets off Elbow Beach and the North Shore. I have very simplistic (paintings) of old buildings in St. George's.

"I like to strip away all the extraneous and just have large blocks of colour. It might be too simplistic for some people's eyes, but what I like to show is the diversity and the colour as opposed to every single architectural detail."

Also opening this evening ? in the Onions Gallery at the Bermuda Society of Arts ? is the Winter Members' show. The exhibit features a variety of techniques and mediums by nearly 40 local artists.

Both shows run through January 16. The gallery is located on the upper floor of City Hall and is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.