Watercolor artist Judy Mercer says she feels a sense of accomplishment when viewers of her art tell her it makes them happy.

Mercer says that after trying oils, acrylics and pastels, she found “watercolor just spoke to me, and I’ve been loyal ever since. I love to paint in watercolors using transparent colors that are rich and fresh.”

Her road to art was a somewhat circuitous one that included working for decades as a deputy court administrator in New Jersey, as the voice that said, ‘Please rise, the Honorable Judge Martin presiding,’ which she says was an interesting job.

Prior to that, also in New Jersey, Mercer worked for seven years in a veterinary hospital, and before her marriage, she worked at AT&T in Washington, D.C., where she met her husband. The couple have a daughter, a son and grandchildren.

The family was transferred every three to four years due to her husband’s job at AT&T, but Mercer didn’t see that as a negative.

“It kind of made it interesting in our lives. I’d get restless feet after a while,” she says. In 1998, after retirement and one month after their daughter married, they moved to Florida where her life as an artist began to take off.

“As a kid I doodled a lot, but never had formal art classes. I remember asking people to give me a squiggly line, and then I would make something out of it. Then in 1995, I flew out to Santa Barbara, Calif., to visit a cousin, who had become an artist,” says Mercer.

As the cousin had “never done anything artistic in her life,” Mercer says she was spurred on, realizing, “If she can do it, I can do it.”

She began taking classes and workshops, studying under several highly respected and nationally known watercolor artists.

“A lot of people have misconceptions about watercolor,” says Mercer. “My advice is to play with it, because you learn a lot, learning what you can and can’t do. Don’t be afraid of the medium.”

The biggest misconception with watercolor, she says, is that you can’t correct mistakes. You can. She uses a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser but cautions that you need to use high-quality paper.

“You have to rinse really well. A lot of water takes most mistakes away. I try to get as much off the first try, but I don’t panic if I don’t get it right the first time.”

Mercer prefers to use 300 lb Arches brand, which she says stands up to moisture, allowing her to mix and flow the paint without the paper curling up. In fact, the paper is so sturdy, she can turn it over and begin a new painting on the flip side if she doesn’t like it.

“The better paper is worth the investment,” she adds, commenting that unlike 150 lb paper, 300 lb paper won’t buckle.

Along with quality paper, Mercer uses quality paints such as Daniel Mercer Watercolors and she prefers to paint with transparent colors.

“You may have to use a few layers to get the look you want. The transparency is guided by how much water you use, and how much paint you have on your brush,” she says.

Rather than using pre-mixed colors, she prefers to combine hues to achieve the sought-after tone, adding additional layers for depth.

“If I don’t like what turned out, I just start a new painting. I just say, ‘Go for it.’”

Mercer comments that she prefers to work in her studio rather than en plein air and is regularly working on a number of paintings at a time, although she occasionally will put a painting away, sometimes for a year, before pulling it out again to finish.

Local scenes, landscapes, birds and florals are the basis for most of her watercolors, many of which are painted using photographs she has taken. Although she primarily sells originals, she says prints give buyers the choice of size. The giclée printing process produces a very precise copy of the image and colors. It also enables the prints to be reproduced in various fashion, such as on greeting cards, phone cases and coffee mugs.

“It’s just about identical, the printers have become so sophisticated,” Mercer explains. “The photograph of the painting determines the quality of the print. The pixels you end up with are determined by the camera. The pixels start breaking up the bigger you go.”

Mercer is a member of the Artists Guild Gallery, currently serving as secretary. She originally joined in 2008, dropping out for a few years after her grandson developed brain cancer. He passed away at age 13 in 2019, what she says is one of the most difficult things she has ever experienced, and rejoined in 2012.

“The personalities, the talent that exists, it’s a really great group. We celebrate other’s accomplishments. It’s very supportive, like a second family,” says Mercer.

Mercer has been asked to judge shows for the Brevard Watercolor Society and the Melbourne Watercolor Society, and she is a member of the Florida Watercolor Society, Pennsylvania Watercolor Society and Southern Watercolor Society, obtaining ‘Signature Status’ in all three.

“It probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone else, but I now put letters after my signature on a painting. To me it shows an accomplishment. It has also been a conversation starter at art shows,” Mercer says.

Her paintings are on view year-round at the Artists Guild Gallery, and she occasionally enjoys gifting her original paintings, appreciating the ability to present friends with something unique and personal.

“It’s been fun over the years. I’ve won some prizes, and gotten into a lot of exhibits,” says Mercer. Best of all, she says, she treasures the people she has met through her art.

Photos by Joshua Kodis