In her second solo show at Heritage House, the 40 works displayed by Maria Evers Smith were all painted during this last year and, as such, reflect an interesting evolvement of subject matter and approach.

Looking even briefly at the body of work, in which landscapes, beachscapes, floral paintings, Island architecture and now, even figurative compositions command her attention, it is sometimes difficult to realise that, although painting has always played a role in her life, Maria Smith has only been working professionally for the past four years.

There is a new confidence in this show but, more importantly, signs too, that she is coming into her own in terms of individual style. Her undoubted facility with the brush has, perhaps, made this journey more difficult for Maria Smith than for other, less obviously gifted artists who, certainly at the commencement of their careers, have to struggle long and hard with the demons of basic technique before they can even begin to paint with that inner eye which ultimately determines personal artistic expression.

She is the first to admit that her influence, thus far, has been predominantly that of the impressionist school -- and there are some highly successful works in this genre in her latest collection. There are several pictures, however, that speak a poetry that is uniquely their own.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in her oil study "Poincianas''. This annual, precocious parade of summer scarlet which seduces -- and defeats -- so many artists, has been triumphantly captured. With beautifully sensitive brushwork, her bank of poinciana blooms in variegated shades of red rise above a small grey and green-shuttered cottage and a tangle of green and brown foliage: like Wordsworth's daffodils they seem to dance in the breeze and, in the barely-glimpsed recess where the great trunk supports its seasonal load, she even manages to evoke that eerie, almost Martian glow cast by the intense colour. And far above, ivory-hued clouds echo the serpentine form of the trees below as they scud across the sky.

There is a lovely sense of breezy spontaneity, too, in her picture of wild spring freesias, carpeting a field of long grass with their petals flushing lilac, pink and yellow.

Some of her strongest work in this show portrays Bermuda's flowers, with studies of hibiscus, roses and Easter lilies, but it is her two pictures of mixed spring flowers which confirm her expertise as a floral painter. "Easter Sunday'' is a veritable celebration of the humble snapdragon and baby's breath, spilling in colourful profusion from a stoneware pot.

Uncatalogued, but surely one of the best pieces she has ever produced, is what might be called a companion work. With its simple arrangement and exquisitely painted daisies and delicate blue Bermudiana, it, also, pays homage to the spring season.

For some reason, her flowers work best when they form the sole focus of her attention: as part of a wider, pastoral garden scene, they assume a decorative, rather than a heartfelt effect.

In "Serenity'', her finest beachscape, a distant group of figures, clustered by the edge of an almost motionless sea, become part of the overall landscape and, as such, mark an important new stage of Maria Smith's development.

Casuarina and buttonwood brush cast their reflection on the calm water and the smooth sands are bathed in the light of a summery, pinkish-yellow sky.

Completing this sense of Keatsian ode to nature is a long figure silhouetted on a high rock, who is indeed a watcher of the skies, standing silent upon his own peak in Darien. Figures also appear, unassumingly, in her "Lunch at the Yacht Club'', where she attains the effect of hot, bright sunlight as it hits the blue umbrellas and nautical flags, forming an oddly satisfying colour union with the deep pink of the old waterside building.

Another outstandingly successful painting is "Penny on the Porch'', a richly realised depiction that captures the very heart of old Bermuda: the green wooden porch, deep russet walls and flanking white chimney of an ancient island house, framed in palms and overlooking a quiet bay. This is a painterly work where her treatment of sunlight and shadow captures perfectly the languor of a hot summer's day.

Such is Bermuda's love affair with itself -- at least, in artistic terms -- that none of Maria Smith's watercolours of Vermont have so far sold. This is a pity, as there is a fine sense of immediacy in her portrayals of fields and farms nestling under the imposing purple grandeur of distant mountains.

There is also a set of miniature oils, one of which is a smaller version of The Moorings, the Harbour Road scene used for the exhibition invitations.

Mrs. Smith has reason to be pleased with this latest show. It's well worth a visit. -- Patricia Calnan.

`SERENITY', Maria Evers Smith `EASTER LILIES', Maria Evers Smith.