Merkley exhibit at MLT Library

  • <br>For the Enterprise
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 12:59pm

Mountlake Terrace Art Commission presents the Penny Merkley Exhibit at the Mountlake Terrace Library now through June 29.

Penny Merkley is half of the Two-Sisters/Two Views Exhibit of still life paintings held in May and June of last year.

In this year’s exhibit, Merkley shares her love of the outdoors with a collection of her favorite scenes. They include Yaquina Lighthouse, Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, the Meagan M navigating the Ballard Locks, the Golden Sable in dry dock at Hoquiam, a boathouse and dry dock at Semi-ah-moo, the Edmonds Ferry and Everett Marina.

The richness of her paintings reflects the complexity of elements that inspire them. Merkley’s work is influenced by her love of geometry and mathematics, which make her search for patterns and forms hidden by Nature’s subtlety. She looks for signs of order in its seeming randomness.

Painting from an early age, Merkley’s first teacher was her father, Frank Nichols, a Fine Arts graduate from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Merkley studied with such renowned artists as Leon BeRoth, Del Gish, Ned Mueller, Carolyn Anderson and Jim Lamb. She also joined the Plein Air Painters of Washington, which has enriched her body of work.

Talk to us