Artist Don Trousdell spends a lot of time riding his bicycle around Bermuda. Not only does he do it for exercise, but also he gets to know a lot more about the Island, and observe its citizens at work. It is the latter which are the inspiration for his newest exhibition, which opens in the Edinburgh Gallery at City Hall on Friday.

Entitled `Bermuda Works', the 36-inch x 36-inch paintings feature a wide-ranging gallery of people whose work is not high-profile.

"There are a lot of people doing the kinds of jobs that are not recognised as being mainstream - everybody from the beekeeper to the person who raises the flags in Hamilton, to the ferry boat captain, farmer, perfumier in St. George's, female meteorologist at the weather bureau, and a doctor at the Biological Station who takes care of the reefs," Mr. Trousdell says.

"My paintings are of 20 people - five black, five white, five men and five women - who are not big business types, and I have tried to cover the whole length of Bermuda. The show is my way of looking at the country from a different perspective and saying, `This is the way Bermuda works', and it is also my tribute to the variety of people who do interesting work."

As a contemporary artist, however, Mr. Trousdell says that while some of his subjects look just like themselves, others are "a bit more abstract"; nonetheless, all will be recognisable.

The artist began working on this show in December, and originally planned to produce more than 20 paintings, but time ran out. Nonetheless, he has thoroughly enjoyed the process.

"It has been fun for me because I don't normally work in the area of realism. Mostly I work in as an abstract artist, but I have combined both areas in these paintings," he says.

Describing his paintings as "colourful", the artist says they include "little icons" which illustrate what the person does or is interested in".

"One man works at BTC and holds a world record for a certain kind of fish, so he is a line person on land and at sea. Another is a woman who has been running a candy store for 40 years," the artist says.

"The people I talked to were very interesting and really happy about what they were doing, and they bring happiness to other people, so that's the message."

Adding to Mr. Trousdell's visual tribute is freelance writer and poet Denise DeMoura, who interviewed and wrote profiles on each individual, to be hung alongside the relevant painting.

"It was a fantastic project," she says of their first collaboration. "We have actually been talking about doing it again, because I think Bermuda is so rich in its variety of people and professions, and it's good for people to be able to see what others are doing in different jobs, how they are contributing, and what great people they are."

Ms DeMoura is also pleased with the overall outcome of their collaboration.

"It's a fantastic show," she says. "Each painting is so different because the personalities of the people and their jobs have fed a particular perspective to each piece, and I have tried to do that in my writing as well by using different formats for different people. So some of the pieces are almost all quotes while others are more descriptive. I hope that each narrative is unique to the person."

Stressing that everyone is welcome to attend Friday's opening, Mr. Trousdell says: "I think people will enjoy the show because it talks about things they understand: people."

@EDITRULE:

l`Bermuda Works' opens from April 4-16. Friday's opening reception is from 5.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. All welcome. For further details see `Exhibitions' in today's Bermuda Calendar.