Merrie Koehlert

Artist Statement: There is a world of beauty where we are. I paint from life so I can give shape to what is in front of me and observe the details. To know an object or person is to paint them. The exquisite tension to find the idea, to paint something and make it beautiful. So beautiful that it attracts another person’s attention. I want my work to provide common ground to interact with people as a springboard to discussion. Coming together around art is a way that we can come to better understand each other and discover that we share the universal experiences that are most basic to being a human being.