The awe of nature
Judd Mercer, Beside the Point, oil, 16 x 20.
“Little moments of transient light, epic vistas that make you feel small, mysterious forest canopies, the power of the ocean … I could go on,” says Judd Mercer of the dramatically lit nature scenes that inspire his landscapes. “Whatever the subject, there’s a feeling inside me like a burst of excitement and anxiety—of awe—at what I’m seeing, and a sad realization that the moment will soon disappear. It’s an impulse to capture it now, in all its glory. I think the struggle to compress all that into a single image is what fuels my paintings.
“I’m not very subtle,” the Denver, CO, artist confesses. “My paintings tend to hit you in the face, which reflects how I feel when I’m outside. As a result, my paintings are a lot of energy squeezed into a small space.”
- Judd Mercer, Summer Stream, oil, 24 x 36.
- Judd Mercer, Untitled, gouache, 6 x 8.
- Judd Mercer, Tidal Forces, oil, 48 x 60.
- Judd Mercer, 79, gouache, 6 x 8.
- Judd Mercer, Inspiration Point, gouache, 6 x 8.
- Judd Mercer, Light Fallen, oil, 24 x 36.
Much as in his works, Mercer manages to squeeze a lot into his days. The self-described “thinker of things” is the vice president of creative strategy for a digital agency, a fantasy novel writer and illustrator, a plein-air painter, and a workshop instructor. He studied at the Art Institute of Seattle and the Art Institute of Colorado and obtained his bachelor’s degree in industrial design. Mercer’s foray into fine art was via watercolor almost a decade ago, but he has since moved to media more conducive to his style. “I really need the ability to re-carve and reshape edges, and I like the punch of opaque color,” he explains. “Gouache is faster and more portable, and more forgiving to correction, so I’m a bit more frantic with it. Oil takes slightly more planning and accuracy to maintain clean colors. I’m trying to unify the approaches so I can maintain a similar look at different scales.” Values and loose edges are also key to that goal.
- Judd Mercer, Untitled, gouache, 6 x 8.
- Judd Mercer, Melt, oil, 12 x 16.
- Judd Mercer, Under the Table, oil, 11 x 14.
Mercer’s oceanside oil, BESIDE THE POINT, received the 2022 Laguna Art Museum/Bob Braun Presentation Award at the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational last fall. And he recently finished a yearlong passion project—painting 100 small plein-air works documenting Colorado’s changing seasons.
When asked what he wants viewers to take away from his work, Mercer sums it up succinctly yet profoundly: “Nature is awesome, in the truest sense of the word.” —Beth Williams
representation
Abend Gallery, Denver, CO; www.juddmercer.art.
This story appeared in the February/March 2023 issue of Southwest Art magazine.