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April Issue 2003
The Wolf Contemporary Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, Offers Works by Ann Lee Merrill
The Wolf Contemporary Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, is presenting a solo exhibition of works by Ann Lee Merrill from May 16 - 28, 2003. Come view new works in oil on display.
Merrill is a permanent exhibitor
at The Wolf Contemporary Art Gallery. Collectors will find exceptionally
executed oils from one of Charleston's award winning artists.
Her canvases capture charming Lowcountry genre with subject ranging
from architectural to landscape and slice-of-life depictions of
the Holy City.
Merrill is a highly experienced and skilled talent with over 30
years as an artists and art educator. She holds both a BFA and
Masters Degree in Fine Art (with many additional hours of postgraduate
studies in art).
As an art instructor Merrill has taught art for 30 years at every level from 1st grade and high school to college and adult education. Her talent in executing light and shadow are readily evident in her work. Her choice of palette and subject reflect her love of the light and atmosphere of the Lowcountry.
In the last eight years Merrill has become an active member of the Charleston and Mount Pleasant Artists Guilds. Gaining recognition and accumulating awards in numerous shows, Merrill recently won First Place in the Charleston Artist Guild's Signature Juried Art Exhibition. The exhibition juror, Roy Drasites, said Merrill's painting simulated an occurrence and conveyed a form of communication with limited brush strokes. "Just like a poet goes beyond grammar and syntax, a visual artist must go beyond the physical. That's what she did."
Merrill's work is in both public and private collections throughout the United States and in Finland.
Merrill offers the following about her work. "I love the excitement of going over the bridges of Charleston, seeing the long vistas of horizontal bands of color, the big skies, the thousands of greens, blues, golds and reds revealed in fleeting moments as we travel in the Lowcountry. This landscape, ageless and ever new, where the big sky and the horizon seem to go on forever, is always so paintable. I was and continue to be fascinated by the Lowcountry, with its mysteries and ancient secrets in the huge live oaks, the seashells in the soil of my garden, the timeworn surfaces of old buildings with their wrinkled faces of wonderful details. These are irresistible resources for an artist. This is a place of abundance that calls you to linger and so I did.
Merrill adds the following about her technique. "I paint, not with a slick surface, but with a surface that reveals the process of the developing painting, the excitement of the brush, eager to describe the vision. My painting process is an open record on the canvas, as personal as handwriting and fingerprints. Favorite brushes push, layer, dance, scumble, scrape and spread paint on the canvas, allowing traces of previous tracks to occasionally appear, revealing the previous layers, and the history of building a painting."
"The Lowcountry is my home; the people, the shores, the marshes, the reminders of historic struggles, the beauty of ancient walls and structures of the peninsula and surrounding areas, are all a part of me. I will never be able to paint it all."
For more info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/881-0788 or at (www.thewolfgallery.com).
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