Penelope Merrell - www.merrellart.com

Penelope G. Merrell

"I make drawings every day and work on new ideas. I love to see the work of others, at shows or in books. I think I always take something with me that enriches my own experience and art."

As long as I can remember I made drawings. By the time I was 4 years I knew I would be an artist even though I had no name for this. Northwest Montana in the 50's wasn't an art center. My visible art world was a mix of Western-calendar art and Italian-made statuary (made-in-Italy was the imprimater of real Catholic art). However, my milieu did respect art and the artist.

Art supplies were usually pencils, crayons and a box of Prang watercolors. My mother cut open advertising envelopes which came in a variety of colors and textures. From sawmill and carpentry jobs, my father brought home planed wood ends (an endless supply of fresh drawing surfaces) and stubs of large, soft-leaded carpenters pencils. I also made paper dolls and a variety of constructions for my many younger siblings.

Through elementary school I usually got the certificate for the best art (meaning the most accurately drawn). I took both art classes in high school, doing my first oil painting during the second. Mr. White helped sharpen by drawing skills and lent me the first art books I'd ever seen. That year I received the second largest oil painting set from the Sears catalog as my Christmas present.

At Seattle University I earned a Liberal Arts Degree, majoring in Art. Initially I focused on oil painting, but in my junior and senior year shifted to bronze casting, both lost-wax and sand casting. After graduation I continued casting, showing and selling in the Seattle area. Marriage and young children altered my life for several years. At this time I began a drafting and house design business as a subcontractor to building contractors. When I returned to art work, casting costs had skyrocketed so I chose to paint again. And I chose acrylics both for the short drying time and the ease of water clean-up. My earlier work explored traditional themes and images which recur in the history of art, fables, folk tales or images which popped into my head. These images were usually simple, the content singular, the color high. I expanded to cut paper as painting. The shapes and areas of flat color evolved and I simplified my art-thought even more. At present I am using my drafting background, working geometric shapes and line to play with pure color and design.

Galleries and Exhibitions

2008 Colin Fisher Studios, Cathedral City CA (ongoing placement of paintings)
2008 House 849, Palm Springs CA (ongoing placement of paintings)
Feb 2007 Colin Fisher Studios, exhibition space at the Palms prings Modernism Show, Palm Springs
Oct 2006 18 original paintings at the Desert Pride Center, Palm Springs
Nov/Dec 2005 "The Dog Show" at Carl May Center, Desert Hot Springs Ca [group show]
Oct/Nov 2005 "Recent Paintings" at Carl May Center, Desert Hot Springs Ca [featured artist]
Aug/Sept 2005 Carl May Center - Photo-collage [group show]
Apr 2005The Jayne Behman Gallery [group show]
Feb/Mar 2004DEZART Studios [group show]
Apr 2002/Jun 2004Studio space at Palapas Art Garden, Palm Springs
2002/2003Desert Art Center, Palm Springs [ongoing, group]
Jul 1999/Feb 2000 Freighthouse Gallery, Tacoma Wa [ongoing]
Apr/May 1999Thompson Gallery, Olympia WA [featured artist]
Jan/Jun 1997Anderson/Glover Gallery, Kirkland WA [ongoing, group]
March 1997Thompson Gallery, Olympia WA [featured artist]
Feb/Mar 1996Childhood's End Gallery, Olympia WA [group show]
Feb/Mar 1995Childhood's End Gallery, Olympia WA [group show]
Aug 1994Childhood's End Gallery, Olympia WA [group show]
Oct/Nov 1993AIS East Pike Gallery, Seattle WA [featured artist]
Jul/Aug 1993AIS East Pike Gallery, Seattle WA [group show]
Jun/Jul 1993Friesen Gallery, Seattle WA [group show]
March 1993Dreamz, a galleria, Olympia WA [featured artist]
Sept/Oct 1992The Women's Center, Seattle University [featured artist]
March 1992Dreamz, a galleria, Olympia WA [featured artist]
Feb 1990The Kinsey Gallery, Seattle University [invitational alumni show]

Juried Shows, Awards, and Purchases

2003The Bighorn Project: "Palm Springs Night" painted on Bighorn sculpture located on site at Aerial Tramway, 1 Tramway Road, Palm Springs
2003Desert Post Weekly, "Bodies in Motion" 2 paintings & 2 sculptures
2002Palm Springs Desert Museum, 6th Annual Artists Council Exhibition Sculpture, Jazz Trio (Red)
2000City of Olympia, permanent collection, 2 paintings Wildwoman / The Three Kittens and Skater
1998Kirkland Evergreen Hospital, Red Horse, as signature painting for The Red Zone
1993Pierrot II selected for cover of the Arts Walk Guide, The Olympian
199225th Mercer Island Arts Festival, Mercer Island WA
199124th Mercer Island Arts Festival [2 paintings] Grand Award, Jester II 38th Southwest Washington Exhibition Second Award, David and Goliath 199
1988Frye Art Museum, 30th Puget Sound Area Exhibition 21st Mercer Island Arts Festival
198720th Mercer Island Arts Festival 34th Southwest Washington Exhibition
198619th Mercer Island Arts Festival 33rd Southwest Washington Exhibition Gallery VI Annual Juried Exhibit
198518th Mercer Island Arts Festival [2 paintings] Honorable Mention, The Fir Trees Gallery VI Annual Juried Exhibit 32nd Southwest Washington Exhibition

Palm Springs Pridefest

2005, 2004, 2003 & 2002 An annual exhibit of contemporary paintings, sculpture, and photography during Pridefest week at the "Art Pavillon"

Arts Olympia

Arts Olympia is an association of contemporary artists in Olympia, Washington. From the fall of 1991 through the spring of 1999 this group sponsored, curated and hung shows on all three floors of the Washington Performing Arts Center. I participated in all the shows during that time.

From 1991 until 2000 I exhibited with a number of Olympia WA businesses throughout the year and during Artwalks. These were usually smaller shows of 6 to 12 paintings and I showed in each place a number of times. (McKenzie Jewelers, Batdorf & Bronson, Wood & Things, Dancing Goats, Elite II, Sunlight Caf�, Hubbards Interiors, The Green Frog, Lynch Paint Supply). I had two shows with the "Art in Schools" project at McLane Elementary School.