JOY
“Sailor’s Delight” by John M.T. Seitzer.

John M.T. Seitzer’s “Islands and Clouds” will be on view throughout September at Joy To The Wind Gallery in Boothbay Harbor.

Both islands and clouds abound along the midcoast of Maine. In a visual way, islands are like clouds as they appear to float on a reflected sky-blue ocean. With a whimsical view, artist John M.T. Seitzer offers a series of playful renditions of clouds floating above a solitary island.

An assemblage of simplified shapes portrays the island’s trees, shrubs, rocks and shore. In the sky, puffy popcorn clouds drift overhead, while tall updraft cumuliform clouds resemble huge slices of toast hovering above the horizon. The series was painted with strokes of bright color intended to activate the surface of the paintings, often layered onto solid backgrounds of contrasting hues.

One painting, “Three Clouds On A Yellow Sky,” creates an optical illusion. A “negative after image,” also called an “after effect,” can be seen after focusing on the ultramarine dashes of color painted on a yellow background at the bottom of this artwork. While still staring at the bottom of the piece, your eyes will start to see bright yellow dashes dancing around the ultramarine ones. These yellow dashes are “false images” and are the complementary color to the ultramarine painted dashes.

Joy To The Wind Gallery will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 5.

Joy To The Wind Gallery is at 34 Atlantic Ave., Boothbay Harbor. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Call 207-633-7025 or go to joytothewind.com for more information.