My name is Merilyn and I paint seascapes, skyscapes, and waves using the medium of oil paints. I live and have my studio in an old stone cottage in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, between Cirencester and Stroud, a hundred light years away from the sea, in all its moods and beauty.
I am fascinated by the movement of water, which has its own unique challenges to paint. The power and movement of waves that so attract me makes it almost impossible for me to paint them in their natural setting so I rely on photographs and memory. Calm still waters present different problems, but I can at least work more on the spot which is exhilerating. I paint my dramatic seascapes in my studio drawing from a combination of memory, photographs and imagination and constantly seek to paint that fleeting moment to be caught once and held forever.
Recently I have painted some of our countries wonderful inland waterways in congunction with my work being exhibited in The Lock Keepers Cafe in Stroud, Gloucestershire. We are never far from flowing water and it has been an unexpected delight to sketch and paint water from the slow gentle movement in streams and canals local to me, to the turbulent and exciting cascades that I have found in rivers like Aysgarth Falls in North Yorkshire. I continued to be busy last winter painting several 'personalised' seascapes for commissions, which include favourite beaches and figure likenesses from photographs, and it is noticable that this is becoming a more and more popular request.
My two weekends of Open Studios this May were an outstanding success. It was wonderful to meet old friends and new who climbed the hill to my gallery and who support me so generously.
A rotating exhibition of my work can always be seen at The Olive Tree Bistro in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, which is a lovely location for sellling my work as well as being a great eating place! My work can also be seen in the exciting new 'Fish out of Water Gallery' in Wooton under Edge, Gloucestershire. This is a great new gallery and I am proud to be hanging there.
My studio is always open for visitors with prior notification by telephone.