Kennebunk Free Library announced  the opening of its January 2022 Speers Gallery exhibit, “Through the Mind’s Eye” by John Forssen. The exhibit features oil paintings of land and seascapes, many featuring a variety of birds.

Forssen is a Kennebunk artist and frame-maker who has been engaged in some form of art for over 70 years. Following his retirement from teaching in 2008, he began drawing seriously and eventually painting with oils.

His work is inspired by what he sees in the natural world around him —but only after it has rolled around in his imagination for a while. While he admires “plein air” painting, he begins in his studio, rummaging through his memory for possibilities and then bringing them to life on canvas, layer by layer. He likes to begin his work days at 4:30 a.m. because, he said, “that’s when the muse is waiting for me.”

Forssen’s drawings have brought several best-in-category awards in Art Guild of the Kennebunk shows, and he has exhibited at Kennebunk Free Library, the former Whitney Gallery, River Tree Arts, Brick Store Museum, Artists-by-the-Sea in Biddeford Pool and the Gallery at York Hospital. He prices his paintings, along with his custom frames, to remain accessible to a wide audience.

The public is invited to view the exhibit in the library’s Speers Gallery Jan. 3-31 at 112 Main St., Kennebunk, during regular library hours when the gallery is not in use for library programs. For hours and gallery access, visit www.kennebunklibrary.org.