Daniel Merriam

About

Daniel Merriam is an American artist born in 1963 in York, Maine, who grew up in Naples, a rural town in Central Maine. One of seven children in a creative, artistic family, he taught himself to paint at a young age and used art as a method of reflective play throughout his childhood. He initially pursued mechanical and architectural design at the Central Maine Vocational Technical Institute, working in the family's design and construction business before transitioning to commercial art as an architectural and illustrator for multinational corporations, earning numerous awards including Broderson Awards and a New England Scholastics Press Association Award. In 1987, Merriam shifted his focus entirely to fine art, holding his first solo exhibition at Abacus Gallery in Maine and receiving an Honorary Masters of Humane Letters from the University of New England. Since then, he has exhibited over one hundred times throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. His work is characterized by whimsical and macabre scenes featuring Victorian houses, cherubs, fantastic animals, and streetscapes, drawing inspiration from artists like Hieronymus Bosch, Jules Verne, and Maxfield Parrish. Merriam founded the Daniel Merriam Gallery in Sausalito, California in August 2012 and also established Bubble Street Gallery, described as an emporium of artistry and imagination blending found objects with his own work.

Pop Surrealism with Baroque, Victorian, and Art Nouveau influences; romantically surreal scenes featuring whimsical and macabre imagery