Dan Merrell, Owner and Resident Artist

I have been drawing all of my life but did not paint anything of consequence until my senior year at Abilene Christian University. My major was Business Administration because I was told “you can’t make a living at art”. I did not think I could paint because I hated working with crayons (and staying within the lines). My roommate bought a small set of oil paints and painted some miniature pictures for his family for Christmas because he couldn’t afford “real gifts”. I was in the same boat and decided to try it. I really enjoyed painting but did not like the slowness of the oil paints to dry.

While in the Air Force, I continued to try my hand at oil paints and slowly moved to acrylics and then to water colors.

I lost all sense of practicality in the Air Force and decided that I wanted to go to the University of Texas at Austin to study art. The professors there hated everything I did which was good because it made me learn to critique myself and do what I liked, not what they wanted me to do.

Upon graduation in 1977, I stayed in Austin, Texas and started displaying my work at art shows to make a living. At some of the shows people would comment on my unique custom frames and asked me to frame something for them. I am fortunate to be able to make a living now by doing things I love to do—paint and frame.