Portraits of one of the most unlikely characters, another of a renowned cigar smoking Queen?s Counsel, and several others well known or not ? make up the latest series of paintings by Vernon Clarke.

He is part of the Artist in the Garden series, which opens at the Masterwork?s Gallery, Botanical Gardens on Friday.

?First of all I am looking for a likeness, but then with painting it is an illusion and I enter fully into the tradition of illusion, yet I am looking for something illusive,? he said.

?I am not trying to copy the camera, I am trying to poke a little and now that the digital world is upon us ? I am still trying to reach back and keep the old traditions going, because a lot of the digital imagery is borrowed from the old masters.

?For instance as to how to resolve things ? the digital colour is powered by light. Were we had this flat image to deal with and we just had to leave it to the imagination as to how to illuminate things.?

Hamilton ?character? Sonny Furbert, who is often seen reading the classics and is often not without a newspaper in his hand, has become one of the subjects in this exhibit.

?He is quite posh,? he said. ?I often worship at the Cathedral and Sonny comes as well and he often sits in the back. Some days he reads and other days he doesn?t, but for someone to be that brilliant it is amazing.

?Despite his circumstances he doesn?t have a mean spirit ? he has an enlightened spirit and I can spend a few minutes with him.

?I wanted to catch the stress in his eyes. The shirt was not his, but when I paint I like to flatter ? it is not just about getting a good likeness. So, this is a tribute to him.?

Saul Froomkin QC was unsuspectingly standing outside of Supreme Courts four and five when Mr. Clarke captured him with one of his famous cigars.

?With him it is about admiration too,? he said. ?As a prison officer, I used to spend a lot of time in court and some days ? it was crap!

?And then other days there would be Saul Froomkin QC, Julian Hall and the other maverick Richard Hector QC and then you?d have the ding dong (laugh) with Froomkin hitting the table.

?If you were in trouble and you had one last hope, you either called him, Richard Hector, (Dame) Lois Brown Evans or Alan Dunch ? these guys were scrappers and they would represent their client like there wasn?t any tomorrow.

?I don?t know if it is old age, but he is just relaxed and he is able to play the roles and it is a matter of principle and you have to have them in order to do that. You can?t be so rigid and intense that you can?t change roles ? that you can?t change hats. And so, comes the best.?

On the other hand is Dr. John Madiro who is a teacher and webmaster at Warwick Academy.

?He is a very eloquent man to speak to,? he said. ?He is well-informed and the kids are lucky. He came by one day and was admiring some of my work and I said, ?actually I would like to do one of you?.

?When ever you see him out he is always dressed, he has that African aspect about him. But he is a keep fit fanatic and he had this T-shirt on and it said Mega Man and it kind of defines his vocation as a computer analyst and maths teacher.?

He borrowed back the painting of Jean Claude and Christo the artists that wrapped the coast line of San Francisco.

Sun Spots on Youmbe is a painting that was inspired by by a combination of things.

?I met her through a mutual friend in Dockyard and she had this wild hair. But she had this nice. clean, sexy, no frills look about her. It is a composition of shots and it is the depth of the Dockyard. Here I have let the light create its own illusion.?

Appelby Global litigation and insolvency lawyer Arabella di Iorio has made up yet another portrait.

?I wanted to paint her and she was like ?hmmmm? but I said, ?let me take a few snaps and we?ll see what we have.

?We were up at City Hall and it was a blazing hot day and I wanted to show her paleness. She stood behind the pillar and I got this ideal reading from my camera and I shot. This one showed her attitude, this don?t mess with me kind of thing ? she?s German and has a very strong personality.

?I painted it and I always thought her eyes were blue, but the photograph had enhanced the blueness in her eyes.

?So, I called her and I asked her what colour are your eyes and she said, ?you must have painted it already?. I said, ?yeah it looks great, but there is something wrong with your eyes?.

?She said her eyes were hazelnut green and I said, ?oh, okay?. So, I figured that would be the title of the painting ? Blue Eyes.?

Young opera singer Tsilala Brock is almost a little sister to his daughters, said Mr. Clarke.

?It is nice to have her around, she is a very pleasant child. The subject there is her voice. After I got the likeness and the drawing down then it was, what do I say about her. I wanted her to glow ? it is about her voice and her spirit.?

Another painting is similar in a sense to those of pastel artist Sharon Wilson ? not in the sense of texture, but more of its subject. ?What I was seeing was a whole new frame of reference to roofing,? said Mr. Clarke who currently has builders at his home and the next.

?It is a K-Roof and it is Styrofoam and they were just chucking it up on the roof. Now the old Bermuda slate was so delicate and it would break.

?These two guys were like dancers on the rafters. I took their pictures separately, but I painted them together to show their teamwork. one had an airgun and the other was cutting.

?It was amazing to watch a roof go on so fast ? they started in the morning and in the evening it was finished.?

Paul Martin?s enthusiasm for his craft was what led to his portrait. He makes bikes that look similar to Triumphs from scratch. I was talking to him about it and his enthusiasm was infectious.?

A picture of a Place?s Gombey led to the portrait entitled the Tall Axe. ?You see more and more of my work was moving away from purely symbolism it was portraiture, but I was always looking for symbolism.

?I like the symbolism of the fact that he is resting and also that the young generation of Gombey dancers are coming into their teenaged years.

?This is symbolic of the shift in power ? he is being handed the tradition. He is a big, tall and handsome Gombey dancer. He looks the part and he looks like he can carry it ? it being the African and the Indian connection all tied up.?

Flying Home features Marathon Derby 2004/5 winner Terrance Armstrong, who beat long time winner Kavin Smith and repeated second-place finisher Jay Donawa.

?It was the first time that I had seen a marathon so close and all three of them went flying by me,? said Mr. Clarke. ?I wanted to make a colour reference to the day, so I even connected the paints to let them flow ? it is kinetic ? it?s energy.?

The show will remain up until November 16.