Biography:

     David Merrill attended the University of Utah for two years before transferring to the Art Center School in Los Angeles. He graduated in 1965 with majors in both Illustration and Advertising Design.
      For six years he was an advertising art director with Ogilvy & Mather in New York on such blue chip accounts as American Express, IBM, International Paper, Mercedes-Benz, Sears and Zippo.
      From 1971 through 1977 he was the art director of TIME magazine where he was responsible for the overall look of the magazine while designing and art directing several hundred TIME covers.
      In 1977 he founded David Merrill Design and over the next 23 years designed or redesigned more than 100 publications.
      In 2001 he relocated to Park City and began a new career in landscape painting with the same enthusiasm that served him well in both advertising and publishing.
      He was represented by Park City Art from July, 2003 until April of 2004 when the gallery closed. In under 10 months he sold 43 paintings. He is now showing at Tommy Knockers in Park City while looking for another few good galleries in other locations.

Artist's Statement:

     When I was seven my second grade teacher sent home a note saying, "David has artistic talent and should be encouraged." I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, just not how many avenues there would be. I've been asked recently if I'm sorry that I didn't begin painting full-time earlier and my answer is, "No. I enjoyed my first two careers almost as much as this new one." As an emerging old artist I just have to work harder and paint faster to catch up.
      I admit to a commercial bent. When I returned to Utah I canvassed the galleries and was told that they sold more landscapes than anything else. Therefore…
      I enjoy plein air painting but so far have found working from my own photographs much more efficient. If photography had been invented when whoever first lugged his Jullian box through the snow I'll bet he would have had a digital camera tucked in his bag.
      I love painting water, skies, snow, wildlife and domestic animals. I much prefer the side-light of early morning and late afternoon which is my primary reason for utilizing photography. It's difficult to capture the mood created by a rapidly setting sun without a camera.
      I have a mentor. I first saw a Bonnie Posselli painting in the Springville Museum and wanted to paint like her. When I learned that she teaches three classes in one day I asked for total emersion and took all three.
      I also study, admire and am influenced by John F. Carlson, Edgar Payne and LeConte Stewart. I am learning from the work of many current western artists, among them: Valoy Eaton, A.D. Shaw and Jim Wilcox.