Dave Merrick
David Louis Merrick (born December 8, 1952, in Keokuk, Iowa) is an American artist specializing in oil-on-canvas and oil and acrylic on artboard portraiture of people and wildlife, although he also sculpts and works in pencil. He is well known for his Opinion columns and political cartoons, and is a frequent contributor to Western Center for Journalism.[1]
Merrick's career as an artist began in 1989 after working at a variety of jobs, including building cabins and as a railroad brakeman. Merrick then worked briefly for a design studio, but soon began to devote more of his time to outside commissions.[2]
Since opening his own studio in Colorado, Merrick has also been commissioned to do wall murals for a number of notable organizations, including Hilton Hotels and Kraft Foods. He currently has more original work in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame than any other artist, and painted a life-sized portrait of Jesus for the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
Merrick has done pieces of and for many celebrities, including nearly all of the most noted cowboys of the 20th-century. Some of his subjects and clientele have included: Tom Selleck, Burt Reynolds, Disney Studios, MGM, Western Horseman magazine, The Franklin Mint, The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, The State of Nebraska, The Holland Corp., Wrangler, Kellogg's, the University of Texas, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne, Jim Shoulders, Larry Mahan, Lane Frost, Tuff Hedeman, Tom Ferguson, Fred Whitfield, Casey Tibbs, Merle Haggard, Roy Clark, Willie Nelson and Michael Martin Murphy, among others.[3][4]
References
Notes
- ↑ Dave Merrick. "Dave Merrick". westernjournalism.com. Retrieved 11 Feb 2015.
- ↑ Dave Merrick. "Dave Merrick". jcgltd.com. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ↑ Dave Merrick. "Dave Merrick". wordvia.com. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ↑ "The Price of Change". "The Price of Change". canadafreepress.com. Retrieved 11 May 2014.