MERYL LEFKOVICH BIO
I am a self-taught artist based in Asheville, NC. Art and design have been both a passion and profession for many years.
Growing up in the Boston area, I spent most of my days in a nearby woods, rescuing baby animals and building tree forts. It was my place of refuge in my otherwise turbulent and chaotic world.
My first inkling that I may have an artistic gene was in junior high school art class. I dabbled but did not pursue that spark seriously until in my 30’s, at which point I took on the mighty challenge of teaching myself watercolor. My focus was highly detailed and photorealistic architecture based on my travels and life in Boston. I figured it could only get easier.
Working from my own photographs, I believed I needed to capture an image exactly for it to be “good”. I developed a controlled, tight style which, at the time, was very satisfying and rewarding. I felt I could quantify my skill and progress. My work was in collections from Northeastern University, Boston Childrens Hospital, Copley Plaza Hotel, and other corporate and private collections.
After several years of what became tedious, I started experimenting with acrylics. Still highly realistic, my palette and subject matter changed dramatically and frequently. I feel my work at the time was a reflection of my joy and love of color and the natural world, combined with a more exciting medium in which to express it.
I recently switched to working in oil, where I feel I am meant to be. I’m in love with the new looseness and abstraction in my work. My subject matter has become much more introspective and personal. While I still love riotous color my palette has become more subdued.
My influences and inspiration, the natural world, history, mythology, transformation, remain the same, but are expressed in a more spiritual and organic way. While my process in the past was a specifically planned outcome, my recent and current work has just about no planning at all. The ghost of an idea which could come from anywhere marks the beginning of a new painting and where it goes, even I don’t always know.
Meryl is primarily a self-taught artist based in Asheviby way of the Boston area. Art and design have been both a passion and profession for many years.
She has a degree in Art History from Framingham State University. Her creative journey has taken her down many paths; painter, art consultant, travel agent, gallery manager, interior design, jewelry designer and back again to painter.
