Mernie Buchanan

Artist Statement

I started painting with adults at age six in the 60‘s because I wouldn’t let mom put me in a children’s art class.

In the 70’s my BA in Art from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas qualified me to be a flower girl at the Tropicana. There I met the hotel’s architect who hired me to design carpets and decorative treatments—including the terrazzo front entrance floor at the Las Vegas Hilton. I was 22 and thought my career would only get more glamorous from there. Ah, youth.

I started a freelance art, illustration and design business in 1982. My studio & gallery was part of downtown Benicia, California for 30 years—an artsy, historic waterfront town where I raced sailboats for years.

I painted everything from large oils to signs and murals both residential and commercial—including the San Francisco Zoo. I painted fifty stage sets until the tendons blew out in my arm, so started working smaller.

For 15 years I traveled to sketch masterpieces in major museums, then interpreted both the art and the frames. This 300-piece series of watercolors in upcycled, colorfully painted frames exhibited as the Faux Louvre at 150 juried fine art festivals & galleries, and was collected internationally.

As a 6-year rep for Grumbacher, I taught adult beginning & advanced painting classes in the Bay Area. Five years in Toastmasters International made me a more inspirational and entertaining speaker.

California developers booted me in 2017, so I moved my studio to Woodstock where I taught hundreds of emerging artists and finally got my Etsy shop ArtByMernie profitable. During Covid vacation I wrote and indie published my memoir The Incompetent Psychic.

For 15 years I traveled to sketch masterpieces in major museums, then interpreted both the art and the frames. My 300-piece series of watercolors in ornate, colorfully painted frames exhibited as the Faux Louvre at 150 juried fine art festivals & galleries, and was collected internationally.

After seven years in New York I needed a brighter sun, so moved back to the great southwest where I’m painting landscapes and portraits of critters and humans in upcycled, painted frames. I’m also the service human for a darling rescue chiweenie who's recovering from PTSD. This was her first smile.

I’m only recently getting started with Southern Arizona Arts Guild but already appreciate the generous energy and opportunities to connect, teach and exhibit. Hope we get a chance to meet.

Look for Mernie's Confident Acrylics classes on the Workshops page!