Islandscape by James Edward Scherbarth

A stormy green sky presses down on a field of pure yellow, with a smudge of dark red on the horizon.

This painting, Islandscape, is by James Edward Scherbarth (1949-2021), dated 2014, in oil and cold wax on cradle board, signed and dated en verso. Splitting a square into land and sky with one horizon is among the simplest devices in landscape painting. The upper third is a dense gray-green, over a narrow band of turquoise. At the horizon, a low strip of deep red meets a pale cream shape at right. Below, the yellow is scraped and speckled, warming to ochre at the bottom edge. It is 12 inches wide and 12 high.

An island, judging by the title, and a sunny one.