Featuring Watercolor Paintings by Shirley Mercer
5-8 p.m. Friday, April 7, at Wind Rose Cellars, 143 W. Washington St., Sequim
Contact: Shirley Mercer at 460-9874
Shirley Mercer finally is following her dreams.
Mercer started watercolor painting 11 years ago and recently has found the right time in her life to pursue her passion for art in a professional setting, starting with her upcoming show “Popping the Cork.”
Her showcase will be part of the First Friday Art Walk starting on Friday, April 7, at Wind Rose Cellars where her work will remain on display into May.
Mercer’s show will feature original watercolor paintings, prints on canvas, prints in sleeves and more. She explained most galleries only allow original pieces to be shown but Mercer wanted to offer her work at a lower price for clients by displaying prints in sleeves and on canvas.
“Now I can pursue a real show and I can also pursue art in a professional mode,” she said.
Mercer always has been occupied with work, teaching art classes and running the LARC Gallery she opened four years ago — located on East Washington Street four blocks east of the Blue Whole Gallery — that is now closed.
She lived in Alaska for 11 years where she worked with Geographic Information Systems, a technical field she liked but one that did not allow for a lot of creativity, she said.
“The thing that really got me was the un-bottling,” Mercer said of the process leading up to her show. She explained the idea of “un-bottling” strongly resonated with her. Once she retired from her job in Alaska, closed the LARC gallery in Sequim and stopped teaching, she said she started painting like crazy, similar to popping the cork of a bottle and letting all her pent-up creative energy flow.
“I think to follow your dream you do have to compromise,” Mercer said. “If you really want to do it, you just have to do it — that’s my encouragement and inspiration to people.”
Mercer moved to Sequim in 2002 where she built a house with her husband Dave Kreps and now does the office work for his company Kreps Construction.
She has come back to teaching watercolor painting and offers beginning and intermediate classes once a week every month on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“I really like to teach and reach people,” Mercer said. She explained she never knew she could paint before she started and enjoys being able to help others realize they too have artistic potential.
“It gives me a lot of satisfaction to go ‘oh, look what I did’ and I want other people to get to that point, too,” she said.
Mercer said when she started watercolor painting she was drawn to peaceful landscapes and later transitioned to more difficult subjects, such as the Bridge of San Angelo, trains and boats.
“I decided to compromise my subject matter and paint new, more complex pieces,” Mercer wrote in the press release for her upcoming show.
“One challenge led to another and then the urban antiquity of Italy and the Olympic Peninsula’s iconic man-made structures caught my eye.”
Some of Mercer’s favorite watercolor pieces include the Bridge of San Angelo — a painting based on a photo she took while on a trip to Italy — the Sequim granary, the Port Townsend boatyard and the trains.
Her showcase “Popping the Cork” will be from 5-8 p.m. Friday, April 7, and her paintings will remain on display into May. For more information, contact Mercer at 460-9874.
