I am Mercie: a mother of 3, two boys and a girl, living in Prescott, Arizona. I found my passion for painting when I was just 13. My younger brother wanted to take a painting class with me, and I agreed; not knowing it would become not only one of my favorite activities, but the one thing that guided my inner self to a gateway of self expression.

I studied painting with the instructor David Saccheri from 2007 to 2014. These years gave me an incredibly thorough foundation in traditional acrylic painting techniques and practices. I loved painting, but creating a career in art was not my priority at the time. Instead, after my studies with my instructor ended, I got married, gave birth to my daughter, and entered the phase of motherhood (which I welcomed wholeheartedly), and painting became a casual pastime. But, little did 20-year-old Mercie know, life had a pathway in store that would bring painting back to the forefront of my life.

I was given the opportunity to start offering painting lessons in 2016. A very humble beginning, teaching out of the spare bedroom in my tiny home in Prescott, Arizona, I was very blessed to have two dedicated and gracious students start off my teaching journey. Now, 9 years and two more babies later, I am still teaching painting and still wholeheartedly enjoying my roll of mother to my 3 children.

I no longer teach out of my spare bedroom, but hold my group classes in a wonderful space in downtown Prescott. I have been blessed with years of support for my work, and as of 2025, I officially have my own home studio in which I can hold private lessons, create my own personal pieces or commissions, and homeschool my three children.

“There is a place that you are to fill and no one else can fill, something you are to do, which no one else can do.” - Florence Scovel Shinn

Life has brought me to a place where I must create and I must teach. Out of necessity, but also out of my passion for what I do. In my own work, I am still finding my artistic voice - what makes my art my own. And, what I am discovering, is what I call the realm of wonder. What I want to show the world through my painting, is the wonder that is permeating our world - if only we can see it. Children come to Earth, and this is what they experience every day, living in an absolute state of wonder, looking at a world they have never seen before. I want my art to remind us how to view the world in a state of wonder, just like a child.

Thank you for joining me on this journey into the Realm of Wonder!

-Mercie