Stepping into the gallery at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, you see two huge canvases, each painted with whales that seem to swim elegantly through the frames, as if diving deeper into the sea. The wall text explains that the works commemorate New London’s whaling past and “the incredible beauty of these majestic, once-plentiful creatures.” The titles, on the other hand, betray a definite sense of humor: one painting is called “Sometimes I Dream of Driving 100 mph,” and the other is “I Know the Secret From the Bottom of the Sea.” On another canvas, a flamingo stands placidly atop a tortoise’s back in “Perfect Romance.” The accompanying wall text says that the inspiration for this came from the Brothers Grimm fairytale “The Town Musicians of Bremen,” in which animals (although not these two) stand atop each other to scare away robbers and gain a happy future for themselves by working together.