About Merrilee Drakulich

Merrilee Drakulich has been a professional artist for more than 40 years, painting in oil painting and in oil pastels.  Her paintings are derivative of the landscapes and seascapes of Ireland, France, Germany, England, Japan, Jamaica and the U.S., and have been made available through exhibitions and art galleries throughout North America, the West Indies, and Europe. 

Merrilee Drakulich was born and raised in the mountains and valleys of northeastern Pennsylvania.  She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and her Master of Arts in Studio Art from California State University in Long Beach.  

 

 Her involvement with the landscape began after college during the 16 years she lived in Jamaica, West Indies.  Intense Caribbean sunlight afforded her an opportunity to develop an interplay of light and shadows that became central to her work.   

In the early 1990’s, she left Jamaica and accepted the invitation of Atkins Fine Art in France where she lived and painted the landscapes of the Auvergne, noted for its vast areas of open spaces and golden sunlight.  In 2001, she had the opportunity to live in Tokyo.  This gave her new inspirations to paint a series of landscapes based on her experiences as viewed throughout Japan. 

Still retaining a minimal and representational approach, she has an almost obsessive fascination with clouds, the sea, the land and objects within the landscape.  Since coming home to reside and paint again in the northeastern United States, the combination of traveling through much of Europe, living in Jamaica, France, Japan, and the United States, and teaching painting and art history has led to her very personal perspective of expression. 

Since 2007, Merrilee resides in Barrington, New Jersey with her husband, where she has her studio.  You can visit Merrilee’s website at www.merrileedrakulich.com, like her on www.facebook.com/MerrileeDrakulichContemporaryPaintings, and reach her at merrilee.drakulich@gmail.com. 


Artists Statement

While recently traveling in Ireland, the Ring of Kerry in the south-western County Kerry captured my personal perspective of expression for retaining my minimal impressionistic approach and obsessive fascination with clouds, sky, sea, the land, and objects within the landscape.   

Using oil pastels, I painted a series of landscape scenes on 22-inch x 30 inch acid-free age-resistant Arches 140 lb oil paper, capturing the rugged mountain landscapes overlooking ocean inlets and the beautiful countryside around the town of Killarney in County Kerry noted for its heather-clad purple mountains.   

The interplay of light and shadows are central to my work, using large areas of colors to reflect a minimal and abstract approach to the subject matter.  All of these paintings are signed in the front lower right corner and dated on the back (2017).  


Selected Solo Exhibitions:

         2001 Jan- Feb “One Person Exhibition- Landscapes” Tudor Gallery, Clarks Summit, PA

         2000 Dec  “Landscapes- One Person Show” Gallery 100/Arts Council of SE Missouri, MI

Selected Group Exhibitions:

          2013 “Sky Gazing Art Exhibit”, Marie Matthews Gallery, Princeton, NJ

          2004  “Fall Exhibition- Landscapes” Atkins Fine Art Gallery, Poterie Du Don, Montsalvy, France

          1998 “12th Annual Woman in the Visual Art Competition” Erector Square Gallery, CT

          1994 “Recent Landscapes” Atkins Fine Arts Gallery, Poterie Du Don, Montsalvy, France

          1987 “Women’s Exhibition” Frame Centre Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies

          1985 “Brickell Project” Joy Moos Gallery Inc., Miami, FL

          1984 “Two Women Exhibit. Exhibition with Rachel Fearing, Emerging Sculptor of Outstanding Talent”, org. by John Peartree   Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies

Private Collections and Commissions:

           Wyndham Hotel, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies

           Upper Lobby, “Ciboney/Pool”, oil on canvas, 1984, 60” x 84”

           Lower Lobby, “Ciboney/Pool/Leaf”, oil on canvas, 1984, 35” x 50”