Night of the Iguana (Blake's Tour)

A great green iguana suns itself at the foot of a Blakean whirlwind: naked souls rising, a golden figure with arms flung wide, apples and crescent moons. Two stories share the title. Tennessee Williams' defrocked Shannon, tied down at the end of his rope, and William Blake's visionary crowds at the Last Judgment. The reptile is cold-blooded and patient; the humans are on fire.

James Formichella is a Gloucester painter who works by association. Each of these canvases has a companion in An Alphabetical Caprice, a notebook he compiled from his working notes and source clippings: an A to Z in which every letter spirals off into art history, etymology, money, madness, and mortality. He came to Gloucester from Denver in 1978 for the plein-air light, trained in oil under John C. Terelak, and is an associate member of the North Shore Arts Association.

One of a kind. Giclée on stretched canvas, a flat $180 regardless of size. Fish City Studios, 39 Main St, Gloucester. Leaves the gallery ready to hang.