I have always done art. I was forever drawing, lost in my own world, when I should have been paying attention in class. My high school art teacher opened my eyes to the beauty in all things—the brilliant blue of a windy sky, the myriad colors on a rusting can. At that moment, I decided I wasn’t going to be a marine biologist. I would be an artist!

I received my B.A. in art and art history at U.C. Davis and U.C. Berkeley, and my M.A. from California State University, Sacramento, where I took art classes from some of the big names in the Western School—Neri, Thiebaud, Arneson, Gilhooly, de Forest. Later, I took a couple of workshops from local watercolorists and a community education class in oil painting. In the last two years I have taken workshops with Frank Webb and with my inspiration, Ron Ranson.

Art has been a continuing journey for me. While I earned a living at various jobs—advertising artist, typesetting sales rep, journal production manager, teacher, copy editor—my art often had to take a back seat. In 1986, I moved with my husband and daughter from the San Francisco Bay Area to northern California’s Trinity Alps, one of the most stunningly beautiful places on earth.

In the late 1990s, I knew the comma-chasing I did as a book editor was killing my inner artist. A friend invited me to participate in the art docent program in the county schools, and thus began one of the most gratifying ventures on my art path—teaching art to children.

But teaching art was not enough to keep my inner artist flame alive. I knew I needed to make a commitment to my creative self. I began to teach myself to paint watercolor. In 2007, I renewed my brief acquaintance with oil painting and began teaching myself how to achieve the effects I longed to capture—the glowing light quality so characteristic of the 19^th century Luminist painters, those lovers of the magnificent American western landscape.

Since 2004, I have been an art instructor for the local community college extension, and I also teach private painting classes. Through persistence in following my vision and with the love and support of my husband, daughter, and friends, I have been able to combine my twin passions—painting and teaching.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

1974—M.A. and Community College Instructor’s Credential (life), art practice/art         history, California State University, Sacramento

1971—Elementary Teaching Credential (life), California State University, San Francisco

1969—B.A., art history/art practice, University of California, Berkeley

Exhibit Record

Oct. 2009—Juried Show, Highland Art Center, awards: 2^nd watercolor, 2^nd oil, 1^st acrylic

Sept. 2009—Small Painting Show, North Valley Art League, Redding; awards: Best of Show and People’s Choice

Sept. 2009—Trinity Artists: New Visions in Watermedia, Main Street Gallery

July 2009—New Works by Joy Wiltsee and Evelyn Mercer Ward, 5 Windows Gallery

Sept. 2008—Different Views of the World: Watercolors of Karen Hammer and Evelyn Mercer Ward, Highland Art Gallery

June 2008—New Works by Trinity Artists, Main Street Gallery

May 2008—Featured Artist, Lewiston Garden and Art Event

April 2008—Luminosity: Landscapes by Evelyn Mercer Ward, 5 Windows Gallery

April 2007—Trinity Artists, Highland Art Center

March 2007—Weaverville Art Cruise exhibitor, Gold Rush Jewelers

February 2007—Weaverville Art Cruise exhibitor, Umpqua Bank

September 2006—Trinity Expressions: Life Is a Puzzle, Main Street Gallery

July 2006—Trinity County Art Educators’ Show, Main Street Gallery,

June 2006—Trinity Expressions: Women of Expression, Highland Art Center

May 2006—Collaborators in Creativity: Paintings of Evelyn Mercer Ward and Artists of the Alps, Main Street Gallery, Weaverville

September 2005—Paintings of Evelyn Mercer Ward and Jessica Ward, Highland Art Center, Weaverville

Teaching Experience

Sept. 2008 –present—art instructor, private classes and workshops

Sept. 2004–2008—art instructor, Shasta Community College, Weaverville Extension

Sept. 2006–present—watercolor instructor, private classes in Lewiston

2000–2006—instructor of art/art history, Trinity Center School and Coffee Creek School

1993–2003—instructor of art/art history, grades K-12, Trinity County schools

Art-Related Travel Experience

National Gallery,Tate Gallery (London); Uffizi (Florence); Louvre (Paris); Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam); Egyptian Museum (Cairo); Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York); De Young Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Legion of Honor (San Francisco); National Gallery (Washington, D.C.); Teriade Museum (Lesvos, Greece)