INSIDER’S GUIDE

With so much to fill your itinerary, you’re sure to find just what you’re looking for in Bermuda. Here are our top picks for your artistic pursuits.

Bermuda Arts Centre At Dockyard

Royal Naval Dockyard, Sandys

Tel: 534-2809 www.artbermuda.com

This is a working art gallery with three resident artists. The Bermuda Book Store is now located in the gallery, offering a large selection of books. As well as offering the largest selection of Bermuda prints available for purchase, the gallery also sells a variety of Bermuda-made gifts, including The Bermuda Rum Cake Company cakes. The Bermuda Arts Centre only offers items made in Bermuda.

The Bermuda Craft Market

The Cooperage Building

Royal Naval Dockyard, Sandys Tel: 234-3208 www.bermudacraftmarket.com

The Bermuda Craft Market is the place to visit for the best collection of Bermuda-made crafts and products on the island. As you wander around the historic building, you may see some of the craftsmen at work; generally, this occurs from April to November. Visit Jennifer Rodrigues Designs for her sterling and 14-karat gold-filled jewellery and many items featuring Bermuda’s famous pink beach sand. Stop by Morrell Designs, where the artist Lynn loves to re-create the textures and shapes of her island home by using sterling silver and semiprecious gems. Grant Kennedy, Bermuda’s only cigar roller, will educate and amuse you with tales of tobacco whilst showing how a premium cigar is made. Throughout the craft market, you can also find sea glass pendants, Bermuda cedar wares, candles, handmade soaps, whimsical stuffed toys, placemats, cards, historical maps, books, and so much more.

The Bermuda Shop By Carole Holding

Clocktower Shopping Mall

Royal Naval Dockyard, Sandys Tel: 535-4000

Carole Holding offers a wide selection of her Bermuda art on gifts, including mugs, note cards, her own recipe chopping boards, placemats, and coaster sets. Other inexpensive gifts include necklaces, earrings, pink sand–filled lockets, and 2023 glass ornaments. Queen Elizabeth II and other royal memorabilia are also a great find at her store.

BERMUDA SOCIETY OF ARTS (BSOA)

City Hall Arts Centre, Top Floor

17 Church St., Hamilton Tel: 292-3824 www.bsoa.bm

Bermuda Society of Arts (BSoA), affectionately known as The People’s Gallery, is located inside the City Hall Arts Centre. BSoA is a charity and the oldest arts society in the island which was formed in 1952. BSoA is now the central point of Bermuda’s local arts scene. It exhibits collections of artwork from mostly local artists. The artwork and the themes change every three weeks. The artwork exhibiting is for sale and is available in the Gallery Shop. The society also conducts regular classes

(like life drawing sessions) and workshops conducted by eminent artists and collaborates with various organisations and charities for special exhibitions and shows. If you want to see more art from Bermuda in a variety of mediums, then BSoA is the ideal place to begin. Open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

THE BIRDSEY STUDIO

5 Stowe Hill, Paget Tel: 236-6658

E-mail: linbergbda@icloud.com

Jo Birdsey Linberg, daughter of Bermuda’s first modern artist, Alfred Birdsey, painted for many years with her father at The Birdsey Studio before his death in 1996. Today, she continues the family tradition. Created predominately in watercolours, her impressionistic landscapes, figurative paintings, and whimsical animals reflect her mentor’s artistic legacy through simple lines and Oriental-inspired brushwork; but they also establish Jo’s own artistic niche and creative stamp. Her watercolours have been exhibited in Bermuda and overseas, whilst collected and commissioned internationally. Jo’s paintings reflect her love of life and Bermuda. Her father’s spirit is alive and well in her humour, hospitality, and creative energy. The Birdsey Studio, in the back garden of the family home, remains a special place for many, with its tranquil natural setting and rather unusual appearance. Studio hours are 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays. Appointments are recommended.

CRISSON & HIND

AFRICAN GALLERY

1 Church St., Hamilton

(Up the stairs by the Bermuda Book Store)

Tel: 295-1117 / 735-8833 www.crissonandhind.com

Since 1999, the Crisson & Hind African Gallery has been the showcase for breathtaking stone sculptures by the Master Shona Fine Artists of Zimbabwe, amongst the most impressive and sought-after works of art from Africa. No wonder one Tripadvisor visitor called it the most magical, most interesting store in Bermuda. The new 2,500-square-foot location teems with spectacular lifelike carvings of powerful tribal chiefs, elaborately braided women, graceful leopards, antelopes, rhinos, and herds of elephants. Owner Dusty Hind says it is one of the most extensive galleries in North America dealing in Shona Fine Art. Thirty different artists, 12 different hard beautiful stones, every piece carefully selected. And don’t forget, original works of art are duty-free.

CROWN POINT

Vacation Photography

Tel: 705-0804 www.crownpointbda.com

Let Crown Point help you capture the memories and adventures whilst you’re on vacation in Bermuda by hiring one of their skilled local photographers. Their concierge will help plan your shoot, choose the right

BY TERRY WARD