Water Lily 18

Douglas W. Merkey was born in Maryland and grew up near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania – the same beautiful landscape that inspired the great American painter Andrew Wyeth. As a boy, Doug loved the outdoors, especially his family’s annual vacations to the Delaware seashore. He also loved creating things and still counts being voted “Most Artistic” in fifth grade among his highest honors. His love for the sea and for creativity has endured and can be easily enjoyed in his photography and sculpture.

Doug is a self-taught artist whose ability to see the world and interpret it through art has grown through gracious natural gifting, endless hours of practice, occasional informal mentorships, an undergraduate marketing degree from Penn State University, a master of divinity degree from Covenant Theological Seminary, and countless life experiences. His dominant influence – for art and life – is the beauty of God reflected in His character and in His works of creation and redemption. Doug counts it his supreme privilege to explore and express this beauty in his artwork and in his care for people.

Doug lives and works in St. Louis among a thriving arts community and many cherished relationships. Though it is far from the sea, he has found it to be a wonderful launching point to a wide variety of beautiful and inspiring destinations like Hawaii, the Gulf Coast, Lake Michigan, and Colorado.