Melanie Eberhardt’s “A Spoonful of Sugar” at the Seen Gallery in Oakhurst seems more familiar than it really is. Her compositions irresistibly remind people of Matisse’s paper cutouts. But they’re paintings.

And sometimes their cheerful colors are —- as her show title indicates —- the spoonful of sugar that masks something much less sweet.

This isn’t always the case. A few of her dancing subjects are just dancing, in a world curiously askew or out of balance. And perhaps her “Cowboys” or the baseball players in “Deep Right” are just examples of basic, beloved American archetypes.

But some paintings are deeply strange, or strangely deep. The figures in “He Found a Hole” seem to echo characters in Native American mythology. The colorful figures with the American flag in “Grateful Nation” are engaged in the ritual that the standard phrase in the title implies.

So there’s a sense of hidden smartness throughout these complicated room-brighteners. They aren’t just pretty pictures, which is what makes them worth owning and looking at over the long haul.

These are paintings of a rare type: they both cheer you up and make you think more than a little.

> THE 411: “Melanie Eberhardt: A Spoonful of Sugar.” Through September 17. 6 —- 9 p.m. Tuesdays —- Thursdays. 2 —- 9 p.m. Fridays —- Saturdays, 12 —- 5 p.m. Sundays. The Seen Gallery, 321 W. Hill St., Suite 7A, Decatur. 404-377-0733. www.theseengallery.com