What a big bite! For her second exhibition, Ruby Kapoor chose to plant her teeth in nothing less than the old masters. You know the ones: Picasso, Renoir, Gauguin, Matisse and the others.

Phew! Just imagine. Those revered names, which in most cases are hidden away in private collections and bank vaults. Colourful traces of genius studied in countless fine arts classes. Copied so many times over the years by coveting hands, and sold to the unaware as originals.

An Indian national who has been living in our midst for the past twelve years now, Ruby Kapoor has managed to get around the matter. Looking at us in the face, and presenting her Original of the Originals: ingenious reproduction of world famous artists.

On that point, it is thumbs up from us for attempting ?to put those works of art never before exposed in Mauritius, within range of the local population.? Thanks to her, last week, the Labourdonnais Hotel hosted Reflections, a display of 27 reproductions of the masters.

To spice things up, Ruby Kapoor mixed her colours on panes of glass, a perilous medium which stands no error. Glass painting is all about light. Raw light thrown on the painter?s skill. Attracted by the vibrant tints of, say, Picasso?s deconstructed woman, Ruby Kapoor arouses in us a distinct tendency to stick our noses right into the painting.

A calculated risk, which she balances by drowning her sometimes hesitant strokes in generous oranges, lavish greens, violent reds and sumptuous whites. The part time painter plays with shades and gambles on transparency. A winning formula accentuated by her taste for details. A liking for perfection in small things pushed to breaking point.

Smile for smile, frown for frown. Ruby Kapoor has copied the originals too well. What about her own creativity? What about the colours reigning supreme in her own universe? That of a happy mother of two, who took up painting on the window-panes of her home, as a hobby.

Her dynamic personality ? dying for the activity and diversity of her native Mumbai - could not stay idle. When her pilot husband Nick is away flying for Air Mauritius, Ruby takes out her paintbrushes. Her method: no chasing around for inspiration but letting it come naturally. Waking up one morning and deciding to reproduce old masters, as if it was the most natural thing on earth. That?s what Ruby Kapoor is about. She?s all about light.

Spotlights. Those of a TV show she hosted on the MBC, in the early eighties, called Countdown. Those of her talk show on Top FM, when she impersonated Monica Varma, at the weekend. Chameleon painter, Ruby Kapoor could only aim at the stars. And re-invent Picasso.