When I first saw Daniel Merriam’s work, I thought it was amazing. Very different. Each one like it’s own fairytale. As I looked at his pieces I thought to myself… “I could write a story for each and every painting he has”. Then I read his bio. His paintings have been used for books, and rightfully so. They are absolutely amazing! Daniel has an amazing website (click HERE) so check it out, the story about him is fabulous!

Here’s a blip about Daniel from Chloe Fine Arts Gallery, where he shows his work:

Born in 1963 in York, Maine, Daniel Merriam grew up in Naples, a rural town within the vast, quiet spaces of Central Maine. One of seven children in a creative, artistic family, he taught himself to paint at a very young age and used his art as a method of reflective play throughout his childhood. He studied mechanical and architectural design at the Central Maine Vocational Technical Institute. While still in school, he applied his dimensional skills and passion for architecture in the family’s design and construction business.

He then turned his talents to the commercial art field, working as an architectural and commercial illustrator for a number of multi-national corporations. Merriam’s illustrations received numerous awards including several first-place Broderson Awards (the annual Maine advertising industry award) and the first-place New England Scholastics Press Association Award (for editorial cartooning.)

Yet Merriam’s true passion remained painting the expression of his own vision. In 1987 he shifted his focus solely to fine art and had his first solo exhibition at Abacus Gallery in Maine. In the same year, the artist received an Honorary Masters of Humane Letters from the University of New England in recognition of the potential social contribution of his work. Since that time, Merriam has had over one hundred exhibitions throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

In 1998, Monarch Editions, Inc. published The Art of Daniel Merriam: The Impetus of Dreams – selections from a decade of the artist’s work. The book’s second edition was published in 2002. Merriam’s most recent catalogue reisonné The Eye of a Dreamer was released in October 2007. Both catalogues reisonné were inducted into the permanent archives of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Illustration, and the Peninsular Museum of Art.

The artist’s work appears in Dreamscape: The Best of Imaginary Realism, Volume I and II, published by SALBRU PUBLISH (the Netherlands) in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Merriam has produced paintings for the covers of books by Paula Volsky and Neal Barrett Jr. published by Bantam Books, as well as for an international literary journal, Mid-American Review. Merriam’s work was used for the playbill of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare produced by the Tony® Award-winning McCarter Theatre in New Jersey.

Daniel Merriam has been interviewed on WCSH (Portland, ME); KEYT (Santa Barbara, CA); KUSI News (San Diego, CA); Sedona Now (Sedona, AZ); 7days News (Dubai, UAE); France 3 Quercy-Rouergue (Rodez, France). He has been the subject of feature articles in numerous national and international publications, such as Art & Antiques, Gulf Connoisseur, IN New York, New Art International, Realms of Fantasy, The World & I, U.S. Art, Watercolor Magic. Merriam’s work is included in the public collections of The Riverside Museum of Art, CA; Merrill Lynch, CA; The Gesundheit! Institute, VA; the Manhattan Club, NY, among others.

Great work Daniel! What an imagination… love it!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Image: ChloeFineArt.com