which opens in the Bermuda Society of Arts' City Hall gallery this Friday for a two-week run.

The third year art class at Northlands School this year is concentrating not on painting, but on two and three-dimensional art. Clay pots and plaques will make an interesting addition to the show, so long as they survive the firing process.

"I'm just hoping their pieces don't explode in the kiln,'' explains their teacher, Ms Elizabeth Ann Trott.

When Living visited the class of 14 and 15-year-olds last week, it was obvious they were absorbed in their work. Their current project is being undertaken for the National Trust. They have carved and painted pictures of various Trust properties on clay plaques, and are now experimenting with glazing techniques to preserve them.

Almost certainly, they are inspired by Ms Trott, who happens to be one of Bermuda's most gifted sculptors and daughter of one of the Island's most celebrated cabinet makers, George Trott of the Village Craft Shop in Flatts.

In no time at all, she had the students joining in a discussion as to why they thought art was an important part of the curriculum in school.

"Art keeps a lot of kids in school,'' said one, adding with a flash of wisdom, "There's no such thing as doing it wrong!'' Another offered the view that art lessons help her to relax mentally, while another said: "Art gives me a chance to be creative, and use my hands. It's something different to explore. My sister is really good at art, and I have something to explore as well.'' And why does their teacher think art important for her teenage students? "I think it's a great method problem solving,'' she answered with no hesitation.

"I've seen kids who've been thrown out as no good at Maths or English, sitting down here and solving problems in an entirely different way.I think we tend to forget there are six or seven different kinds of intelligence. People who are not academically strong in a formal way are very often highly advanced in a spatial or creative way. If that's developed, it encourages the student and allows a child to realise its potential, in just the same way as a kid who's good at sport is inspired to tackle other things.'' She made the observation, however, that art has to be "immediate'' for today's children: "They don't want to work on something for two or three weeks! Three-dimensional art is something new for them. By the way,'' she adds, "there is no guarantee that anything we are doing here will be suitable for the show!'' Ms Trott went on to emphasise that Bermuda's high standard of craft -- much of which is today's art -- is part of Bermuda's heritage and culture, both during and after slavery: "We were not a plantation economy. Many of the slaves were farmed out as craftsmen and sailors and boat builders, etc. so, unlike islands to the south, once they left the plantations, they were not trained to make a living. Here, they were taught crafts, and that teaching continued at Dockyard. My Dad was at Dockyard. Today, we have a lot of people who are self-employed, and selling their work to locals and tourists.'' Ms Trott also believes that art and craft work provides good mental therapy for everyone -- a view that comes from years of teaching people of all ages.

"Some people think I'm crazy,'' she laughs, "but I really do like teaching.'' For her, as for so many teachers, the great reward is when students take what she calls that "millennium'' step forward: "They may give you four years of hell before they reach that stage, then something happens -- and that is very rewarding!'' Even so, she admitted that she needs to devote more time to her own work. As she pointed out, the road to success for a sculptor often depends as much on money as it does on talent. The complicated process of casting a bronze piece has to be done in foundries overseas, which is very expensive. She manages to produce about two each year, "about all I can afford, at the moment.'' The latest is "Lift Your Leg Up,'' based on a little boy she saw dancing to that tune. The chubby-faced child is cast in gold and brown with a red patina for the clothing. She has produced a limited edition of eight, plus two artist's proofs.

Ms Trott explained that she sculpted in wax and then took it to a foundry in Mexico for casting.

This was made possible by a small grant awarded to her last year by the Arts Council.

"I felt it was also important for me to learn more about the process of mould-making, so that I can teach it to my students. I went to a `commercial' foundry, up in the mountains. It's run by three brothers.'' While there, she sculpted in wax another piece of a dog, called "Suitcases Out'' ("they can sense when people are going away''), but was unable to get that cast. "I think it's the best I've done yet,'' says Ms Trott, whose work is distinguished by its lively sense of movement.

Elizabeth Ann Trott says that, besides her father, her earliest mentors were watercolourist and teacher the late Charles Lloyd Tucker and the late Byllee Lang, who created the sculptures for the Anglican Cathedral.

"She was one of my teachers. I used to go to her for lessons when I was about 14. Most of what I learned, I learned from her.'' Ms Trott, who attended the University of Sussex and Brighton College of Education, also has a masters degree in fine arts from Howard University and a second masters from the Parsons School of Design in New York.

Her sculptures are exhibited at the Cavalier Gallery in Connecticut and have been widely displayed in Bermuda. One of her pieces is in the permanent collection at Government House and she created the sculpture for Global House in Hamilton.

THE FINISHING TOUCH -- Northlands student Edward Carlington, 14, applies an underglaze on a pot as part of a students' project studying American-Indian pottery.

LIFT YOUR LEG UP -- That's the title of Ms Elizabeth Ann Trott's newly cast bronze sculpture. Pictured with Ms Trott are two of her Northlands School students, Trevor Smith, 15 (left) and Annon Smith, also 15 (right).