Rachel Mercer CV
The Arborealists’ commitment to trees and promoting ecology and sustainability is what draws me to apply. I would also like to meet and exhibit with other artists that value working outdoors and could offer insights and perspectives.
Since 2022, I have made work in a wooded valley near Stroud and local allotments and woods where I live in North London. I find the changing light and weather exhilarating. Quick drawings, watercolours and oil sketches made on location inform studio oil paintings which are supplemented by memory.
My current work focuses on farmers, allotments and forestry, I am interested in how agricultural and woodland practices shape our environment, and how farmers and woodmen have managed the land sustainably for centuries. I am particularly fond of Millet’s drawing of woodsmen and am developing a series on this theme. In the Stroud woods I have befriended local woodmen and am gathering sketches of them at work. Observing foresters entangled with trees prompts reflection on our role as stewards of nature.
All members of your group have an interest in materials and techniques to express the chaos and structure of trees, the breadth of approaches is exciting and I would hope to add something to the mix. I use choppy, visible brushstrokes; through improvisation, wiping, smearing and overlaying, I physically grapple with form. The work becomes a record of time spent with the subject and time spent with the painting itself — not copying, but reaching toward what feels true.
Trees, whatever their location, remain enduringly beautiful. In their timelessness they make any landscape reflect time itself. Moreover the study of trees helps us to reflect on the modern world and changing notions of landscape.
@rachelmercerartist
Education
Postgraduate Diploma, The Royal Drawing School 2013
Bachelor Degree (First Class Hons), Cardiff Metropolitan University 2012
Foundation Diploma (Distinction), Cardiff Metropolitan University 2008
Longsands Academy, St Neots, 3x A levels (A-B) 2007, 1x As level (C) 2006, 12x GCSE’s A*-C 2005
Awards and Residencies
August 2025 – Longlisted for Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize
July 2024 – Residency at Borgo Pignano awarded by Royal Drawing School.
Aug 2022 – Residency at Dumfries House awarded by Royal Drawing School
Aug 2022 – Longlisted for the Waverton Art Prize
July 2022 – Prize Winner of the Hampstead Art Society Prize
May 2019 -Shortlisted for Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize
Oct 2019 – Covid relief bursary awarded by Bow Arts.
June 2019 – Two-month Residency in Chengdu, China awarded by The Royal Drawing School (London) and Elm Education (China) in partnership with San Mei Gallery, London.
June 2015 Artist in Residence - North London Collegiate School.
Sept 2014 – 2-week residency at Dumfries House Scotland awarded by The Royal Drawing School.
2011, Artistic development bursary, awarded by Cardiff Metropolitan University
Selected Exhibitions
Sept 25 – Joint exhibition with Julie Held ‘Refuge and Meanings’ 155a Gallery, London
Aug 25 – Ruth Borchard, Online exhibition
Feb 25 – Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries
Jan 25 – Fresh Art Fair, Alexandra Palace
Jan 25 – Vivienne Roberts Projects “A Cage went in Search of A Bird” online group show
Jan 25 -Hampstead Art Society “Works on Paper” online group show
July 24- Gallery at Green and Stone Summer Show, group show.
July 24 -Wells Contemporary, group show, Wells Cathedral
July 24 -Hampstead Art Society, Summer group show, Mayfair
June 24 – Chelsea Art Society Summer exhibition
March 24 – ‘In the Cities, Life is Smaller’ Solo Show, Gallery Green and Stone.
January 24- Green and Stone ‘Works on Paper’ group show
July 2024 – Green and Stone Summer exhibition group show.
Dec 23 – “Carnivale” group show– Vivienne Roberts Projects, Hatton Garden
Nov 23– Don’t Look Back, Vivienne Roberts Projects, Hatton Garden
August 23 – Gallery Green and Stone, Summer Exhibition, Chelsea London
July 23 – Hampstead Art Society Summer Exhibition, D contemporary Mayfair, London
June 23 – NEAC annual exhibition, Mall Galleries London
Jan 23 - Zimmer Stuart Gallery at King Edward VII's hospital, London
Dec 22– ‘ Bread and Games’ 3 person show, Aleph Contemporary, London
Aug 22 – “As it was, As it will be =As it is” 4 person show Fitzrovia Gallery, London
October 21- Work selected for Bow Open competition, exhibited at Nunnery Gallery
Sept 21- ‘Within Without’ Two Person Show at the Crypt Gallery, London
May 21 – Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize exhibition. Coventry Cathedral
Dec 20 – ‘This is Where We Meet’ Group exhibition at Carousel Gallery, London (Selected Guardian exhibition of the week)
Sept 20/21- Art Car Boot Fair (Virtual exhibition). Online art fair.
July 20- ‘Reaction in Seclusion’ – Virtual group exhibition curated by Beatrice Hassell- McCosh.
June 20- ‘Inside Out’ – Solo exhibition of works on paper curated by Megan Garrett-Jones Ramsgate, UK
Dec 19 - ‘Fresh Eyes’ Exhibiting a series of oil paintings made after a two-month residency in China, curated by Ludovica Bulciolu, San Mei Gallery, London
Sept 19 – ‘Fresh Eyes’ Exhibiting a series of oil paintings made whilst in China at Yiie Gallery, Chengdu China.
May 19 – Group Show Mendell’s Gallery, Norwich
Oct 18 - ‘Babes in the Orchard' - Joint show at Mercer Chance Gallery, London
March 18- Group exhibition ‘Through the Looking Glass: contemporary Self Portraits’, Mercer Chance Gallery.
Oct 17 - Joint Exhibition with Enya Lachman-Curl, Mercer Chance Gallery, London