Welcome to my 'Dog Blog'


Last July (2008), I decided to paint a series of dog paintings in the spirit of the 19th century European dog painters. These painters portrayed the everday life of the dogs of their time, wih academc prowess, creating masterworks no less worthy than any other painting genre. In studying these paintings, I realized that even with the surge in representational painting today, animal painting as a genre, largely follows a Modernist aesthetic, and is rarely seen in fine art or academic art circles. I want to bridge the divide, both as an academic painter and as a dog lover and present dogs, not as one-dimensional stereotypes, but as living breathing spirits. In each painting, it is the domesticated individual, along with their wild heritage that I hope to capture and memorialize, and in doing so, bring the same dignity to them that they bring to our lives everyday. Our culture has a tendency to anthropomorphize our dogs; maybe this is the reverse in action, our dogs' nature teaching us something about ourselves.

This series of work was shown at Lora Schlesinger Gallery in Santa Monica, CA at Bergamot Station, April 25th-June 6th 2009. http://www.loraschlesinger.com/

Commissions are welcome. Contact the gallery or email me at km@kimberlymerrill.com


Saturday, June 13, 2009

Artist Talk @ 'Unleashed' closing

Well, my first show has closed and I would like to thank everyone for their support and overwhelming positive response to my work! Thankfully, especially given the current economic times, there were several sales and, as hoped, many more commissions. Speaking of which, if anyone is interested in a commission, please drop me an email and I'll be happy to discuss your ideas and projects!

When I started this blog, it was specifically for the show. I've been wondering whether to stop until I get the next show started, but then decided to blog about the process of both doing commissions and painting a show. I am learning as I go...maybe some of you would like to learn with me. So, on to the next project!
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