Isnt it ironic tower grove park

Isn't it Ironic? (Tower Grove Park)

Piece description from the artist

This piece is just a small representation of the grand public park and arboretum, Tower Grove Park, in St. Louis, MO. This depiction of The Music Stand, built in 1872 for afternoon concerts in the park on Sunday afternoons. Henry Shaw, founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden, gifted the land which is Tower Grove Park to the city of St. Louis in 1866 because he '"…believed that parks were important not only as ornaments to a great city, but as conducive to the health and happiness of its inhabitants and to the advancement of refinement and culture."

So many years later that sentiment is still alive and well in the people of St. Louis and in this gorgeous, Victorian woodland.

I chose The Music Stand as the subject because what's more fun than music outside on a summer night? Nothing. It's still used today for hosting musical evenings as well as weddings. Ironically enough (and this is where the title comes from), I was working on the sky of this painting for the three days leading up to a family wedding I was attending. I didn't realize it was the actual location of their planned wedding ceremony until the day before. Just as I was wrapping up the storm clouds, I was informed by my husband that his cousin's wedding was actually planned to be held at the music stand, and within ten minutes he received word that the ceremony's location was being changed last minute due to severe storms in the forecast…

Other works by Leah Merriman

About Leah Merriman

St. Louis, MO

Leah Merriman is native to St. Louis, working primarily in encaustics to create ethereal, layered abstract landscapes on wood and paper. She also creates detailed illustrations of urban scenery and architecture and will often combine the two.

Merriman was influenced heavily by personal childhood and young adult illnesses and often found that being able to escape her own physical situation was only possible through her mind. She creates worlds you can "go into” and look around. Places you can stay in for a while, watch the scenery shift light, textures and colors in conjunction with the time of day. By practicing stillness and the awareness of being in the moment, an appreciation of your own mind’s ability to travel inward can be honed while still being acutely aware of your immediate physical world, striking an intriguing balance through the marriage of patience and escapism.

Merriman apprenticed in sculpture and illustration under local St. Louis Master Artist Rudolph Torrini in her late teen and early adult years.
She studied Drawing and Sculpture at Fontbonne University in St. Louis as well as photography and videography at Webster University, St. Louis, MO. She

See Leah's portfolio here
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