September 2020 Featured Artist
Award-Winning Oil Painter
Merrill French
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Merrill French started drawing and painting at an early age and never stopped, even though her formal education was in the sciences. In college she honed her drawing skills, not in art classes, but in biology and comparative anatomy, where she made detailed renderings from life.
Her work has been widely exhibited in New York and Connecticut as well as Massachusetts, including solo exhibitions at Mattatuck Museum of Art in Waterbury, CT, Loring Gallery in Sheffield, MA and Lady Audrey’s Gallery in Millerton, NY. Merrill has received numerous awards, including the New Britain Museum of American Art’s People’s Choice Award (2019, 2020), several awards from the National Association of Women Artists, a Grumbacher Gold Medal (Kent Art Association), and the Salmagundi Club Award for Excellence. Her work is also included in the following permanent collections: Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University (NJ), Adams & Company Real Estate in New York, NY (a 20 painting commission) and the Belfast Public Library in Maine. |
She is represented by Cooper & Smith Gallery in Essex, CT and Francesca Anderson Fine Art in Lexington, MA.
Beginning the Decent into Grand Central Terminal
Oil on Linen - 34 X 34 inches © Merrill French |
Mitchell Street, Nantucket
Oil on Linen - 30 X 30 inches © Merrill French |
You went to school for science, not art. When did you get interested in art?
Really…it was always art. In my sophomore yearbook, someone wrote, ‘Good luck in art.’ But I had this phenomenal biology teacher in high school, and I found that I loved it. So I decided that was good enough for me, and I went on to study science. I was a lab tech at first, but I soon realized that I had to go on to get a master’s degree if I wanted to do anything more interesting. Being a lab tech just wasn’t for me.
After my first daughter was born, I went back to creating. I’m a self-taught artist. I started with still life because these were easy to set up at home. Then, I went to barns.
Really…it was always art. In my sophomore yearbook, someone wrote, ‘Good luck in art.’ But I had this phenomenal biology teacher in high school, and I found that I loved it. So I decided that was good enough for me, and I went on to study science. I was a lab tech at first, but I soon realized that I had to go on to get a master’s degree if I wanted to do anything more interesting. Being a lab tech just wasn’t for me.
After my first daughter was born, I went back to creating. I’m a self-taught artist. I started with still life because these were easy to set up at home. Then, I went to barns.
Lafayette and Astor Place
Oil on Linen - 32 X 32 inches © Merrill French |
Construction at Bowery and Rivington Streets
Oil on Linen - 32 X 34 inches © Merrill French |
What is it about a place that inspires you?
Cities inspire me. It’s the energy and the contrasts that you see in city environments that I find really interesting. New York City has rundown buildings and then these incredible structures that are directly adjacent to these buildings. I love the turn of the century buildings [late 1800s/early 1900s] – the patterns at the top of these buildings are just gorgeous. The intricate work on all of the structures created at that time…the buildings, the statues, the carvings…they are all so incredibly detailed.
Cities inspire me. It’s the energy and the contrasts that you see in city environments that I find really interesting. New York City has rundown buildings and then these incredible structures that are directly adjacent to these buildings. I love the turn of the century buildings [late 1800s/early 1900s] – the patterns at the top of these buildings are just gorgeous. The intricate work on all of the structures created at that time…the buildings, the statues, the carvings…they are all so incredibly detailed.
Phebe's
Oil on Linen - 32 X 36 inches © Merrill French |
Rainy Morning on E. 7th Street
Oil on Linen - 34 X 40 inches © Merrill French |
How long does it take to complete a painting?
It takes me anywhere from two to eight weeks to finish a piece – it depends on the size and the amount of detail. ‘Seventh Avenue’ (see below) took eight weeks, whereas a painting of a ferry in Maine only took two weeks since it was mostly fog.
It takes me anywhere from two to eight weeks to finish a piece – it depends on the size and the amount of detail. ‘Seventh Avenue’ (see below) took eight weeks, whereas a painting of a ferry in Maine only took two weeks since it was mostly fog.
7th Avenue
Oil on Linen - 26 X 36 inches
© Merrill French
Oil on Linen - 26 X 36 inches
© Merrill French
How has the pandemic affected your work?
As far as the pandemic is concerned, I’ve been in hog heaven. I’m an incurable introvert, so being forced to stay at home and just paint has been great! The galleries are just now opening up, but no one is buying anything. Most meetings are virtual, so that helps.
As far as the pandemic is concerned, I’ve been in hog heaven. I’m an incurable introvert, so being forced to stay at home and just paint has been great! The galleries are just now opening up, but no one is buying anything. Most meetings are virtual, so that helps.
Famiglia, E. 97th Street
Oil on Linen - 26 X 32 inches
© Merrill French
Oil on Linen - 26 X 32 inches
© Merrill French
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PARTIAL ARTIST STATEMENT: "I’ve always found art and science to be compatible. Science taught me to observe the world more closely, while art taught me new ways of perceiving what I see. It’s the interpretation of what we observe that makes all the difference." ~ Merrill French |
EXHIBITIONS:
Merrill French: Series 7s July 26 – September 6 Mattatuck Museum of Art (The MATT) Waterbury, CT Virtual Exhibition October 1 - December 30 NAWA New York, NY "Mini" Exhibition November 18 - January 16, 2021 Francesca Anderson Fine Art Gallery Lexington, MA |
