Nicholas Nyland, "Whiskers." Photo courtesy Lisa Kinoshita.

Two really fun shows are up at the moment in Tacoma galleries: worth seeing both for the skill level and the cheer-you-up factor.

At Mineral, Nicholas Nyland (who, BTW, lives in Lakewood, not Seattle, FYI Jen Graves) explodes his neon-bright paint splashes all over Lisa Kinoshita's hot-orange walls with child-like glee in "Objects of the Mind." His signature short brush strokes create an abstract pattern that's vaguely reminiscent of water, or textiles, or SOMETHING. In fact, as Nyland puts it, he likes abstraction for the very reason that it is "generous and capacious, able to absorb and then release a multitude of references. In my case, references as disparate as Chinese scholar’s stones, Japanese gardens, early American decorative traditions, or seventies design."

From huge deer antlers hang sails of triangular painted card, like a hippie peace banner. On the surfaces sit papier-mache blobs, thick with paint and thumbprints, like faceless but friendly deep-sea creatures. On the countertop is "Whiskers" (above), a homely squished box sprouting spiky tendrils striped in Fourth of July firework colors. Best of all, on the floor, is a papier-mache firepit, complete with scrunched edges and comforting pinks, yellows and oranges inside.

Dombrosky and Eakins, "Wreath." Photo: Marc Dombrosky and Shannon Eakins.

Over at Fulcrum, the aesthetic turns gritty and ironic. Marc Dombrosky and Shannon Eakins, that unbeatable team, have created the Tacoma exhibition sans pareil: "Phantasm Chasm." Delicate blown glass vessels become terrariums for invasive species like blackberry and holly. On the wall, a wreath of workmen's gloves scooped up from the gutters in the Port of Tacoma share space with a bullet-riddled portrait of John Allen Muhammad, the Washington D.C. sniper, made at the Bullseye range with the exact type of gun his colleague John Lee Malvo stole from Bullseye for the attacks.

Dombrosky's hand-sewn Scout patches of Tacoma icons (giant Pacific octopus, cyclist falling over potholes) are gorgeous (gallerist Oliver Doriss is planning a second edition) and lined up on a shelf made from a Murray Morgan Bridge plank are glass chalices, each made by a Tacoma glassblower in their own style, containing a brilliantly blue embroidered betta fish. You know, the kind that fight to the death if they live in the same space. The ironic title? "Beautiful Males."

Dombrosky and Eakins, "Beautiful Males". Photo: Marc Dombrosky and Shannon Eakins.

"Phantasm Chasm" shows at Fulcrum Gallery noon-6 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through May 31. 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma. 253-250-0250, fulcrum.oliverdoriss.com

"Objects of the Mind" shows at Mineral art space noon-5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through June 16. 301 Puyallup Ave. Space A, Tacoma. 253-250-7745, www.lisakinoshita.com