2026 
Featured Artist

Artist - Doug Merskin

DOUG MERSKIN: SCULPTING LIGHT, TEXTURE, AND FLOW

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Doug Merskin has spent most of his adult life immersed in design and creation. With a professional background in construction and design-build, he gravitated naturally toward an art form that would let him push boundaries — one where structure, material, and movement could coexist on a single surface. Today, his distinctive mixed media works combine mineral pigments, metallic powders, and acrylic paints on substrates he personally bends and sculpts using heat, producing tri-dimensional pieces that seem to ripple and breathe.

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What makes Doug's process truly unique is that every painting begins flat. The sculpting happens only after the work has fully cured — a detail that consistently surprises and delights collectors and festival-goers alike. The result is art that doesn't just hang on a wall; it inhabits the space around it, casting shifting light and creating a sense of constant motion.

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Inspired by Water, Shaped by the World

Growing up in South Florida, Doug was shaped early by the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea — surfing, diving, and sailing through waters whose colors have never left his palette. At 18, he moved to California, and the deep cobalts and rich greens of the Pacific became equally embedded in his creative vocabulary. Wherever he travels — the desert Southwest, the Colorado Rockies, the tropics — a new color story finds its way into his work.

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One of his most personal series, Mona Pass, was born from a sailing voyage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Crossing the Mona Passage over three nights, he witnessed bioluminescence glowing behind the boat — molecules reacting with oxygen to produce an ethereal combination of greens, blues, and gold. That experience became a series of works infused with luminescent pigments that glow in the dark, capturing a moment of pure oceanic magic.

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The Business Behind the Beauty

Doug is candid about the realities of life as a working artist. Alongside his creative practice, he and his wife travel the country participating in art shows and gallery events, balancing commissions, client meetings, and booth presentations. It was a show in Naples, Florida, that became his turning point — the crowd's reaction to his bending technique and vibrant color combinations convinced him he had found something truly his own.

His advice to emerging artists is direct: go big, know your worth, write a business plan, and show up consistently — even when sales don't follow immediately. "Sometimes people are ready to buy two years after they saw you," he says.

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A Few Things You Might Not Expect

When Doug hits a creative wall, he doesn't push through it at the desk — he heads to the water. A dive, a sail, or a couple of waves is enough to reconnect him with the source of his inspiration. He's also a lifelong admirer of naturalist David Attenborough, whose storytelling taught him to look beyond his comfort zone and explore. His dream collaboration? Artist Luis Sottil, who crafts vivid pigments from seeds, roots, and natural materials — a kindred spirit whose work channels the same wild vitality of the natural world.

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Doug's pieces are held in private collections throughout the United States, and this year he returns to the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival as its Featured Artist — an honor he calls deeply meaningful. At his booth, visitors are invited to look closely, touch the textured surfaces, watch installation videos, and ask every question they have. He wouldn't have it any other way.

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To explore more of Doug’s work and follow his creative process, visit his website or connect with him on Instagram.​