The artwork of Robert Meredith may not be what it seems. The artist specializes in the Trompe L'Oeil technique resulting in delightful pieces that literally "fool the eye."

Meredith opens his solo show, where he will unveil his latest painting, with a reception Friday from 6-9pm at Gallery 4463, 4463 Cherokee Street in Acworth. The show runs through Nov. 29.

"A painting is not just a picture of something," says the Marietta artist whose transcendent realistic representations of cabinets and store windows can be found in offices and homes across the nation and Europe. "It's what you do with the object you're painting that's important."

Trompe L'Oeil, dating back as early as the Romans, is a technique of illusion where objects painted on a flat plane appear to be three-dimensional instead of two-dimensional. For example, Meredith suggests a painting that depicts a letter tacked to the wall. "It would be like you could pull off the tack and actually take the letter off," he said.

Meredith, who graduated with a BFA from University of Georgia in 1963, made Trompe L'Oeil the main thrust of his artwork since 1984. While visiting an antique toy store in New York City, Meredith realized what a great subject toys would make because of the colors and personality of the toys, he said.

"It's not a matter of painting a toy," said Meredith. "It's a matter of painting a toy that has a history, that has been played with, has an ear pulled off, that has a personality that goes beyond the actual toy."

Once he found his theme, Meredith spent years developing it through his art. "I am constantly trying to do more things within my discipline, within the limits I've placed on myself which is Trompe L'Oeil," he said, "to see how far I can push it, what I can do with it to get another effect as far as color, subject and composition."

Meredith distinguishes himself through use of more color, more depth and more interesting subject matter. An example of the way he achieves the technique is the use of reflections mixed with actuality in paintings as seen through glass windows.

"I want there to be some wonder," commented Meredith who chooses and places each object in a painting carefully in order to get the effect. "I want someone to look at my painting and think, 'How in the world did he do that?'"

Meredith takes Trompe L'Oeil into a three-dimensional realm by actually building and incorporating frames of cabinets or windows into the physical painting when part of the subject.

"The wonderful thing about being an artist is that it just keeps giving to you," he says.