Artist Christopher Grimes, who is best known for paintings that capture a time in Bermuda which no longer exists, has now added portraits to his repertoire.

His new exhibit opens at the Bermuda Society of Arts this evening in the Edinburgh Gallery, while the ?Conceptual and 3D Art Members Show? opens in the Onions Gallery.

Mr. Grimes said this show will include historical scenes of Bermuda and some portraits.

?I have been working on the portraits lately and I have really found that they are much harder to do than any historical scene,? he said.

?I have done half a dozen this year, so I am going to put some of them in so that people have an idea of what else I do. But primarily it will be historical paintings and a few marine paintings as well.?

Mr. Grimes said he initially started painting with marine scenes.

?But then I got into the old Bermuda theme,? he said.

?I always liked it and I have been doing other things ? basically anything to avoid getting into a rut.?

Two of the portraits are of well known people, he said, but when asked who they were, Mr. Grimes answered: ?I?d rather people come to the show to see who they are.

?They are pretty recognisable though.?

Asked why he chose them, he said: ?It was more a case of them choosing me.?

One or two sat for him, but most of the others did not have the time, so he had to go with photographs.

?People don?t have the time to sit and the most you can hope for is about 90 minutes to two hours,? he said.

?And even then it is a stretch for someone to hold a pose or to resume the exact same pose and you might have to do that six, seven or eight times. So what I do like to do is to talk to the person first and get a feel for their personality and everybody has some identifying or a uniqueness, a certain glint in their eye that makes them that person.

?Once you get a feel for their personality, you inject that into the portrait. And when I take photos I take not only the posed shots, but pictures from different angles and for this one (indicating one of the portraits) I took 223 photographs and the pose I chose was number two.?

He has found that working with the Pleine Air Group has helped with his speed and style.

?The most we have is two hours and I have learned more in probably the 15 to 18 times that I have been out with them then in the previous 20 years,? he admitted.

?Listening to the critique and from listening to others ? it has just been invaluable and has helped me to speed up my studio time ? it has definitely had an impact. I?m really hooked on it.?

Like most artists, he did not consider art as anything more than a hobby, but today the former Department of Corrections facilities manager, said: ?Now I am painting, I love it. I love the act of doing it and the creativity.?