The Still Life features Portland, Oregon artist Hickory Mertsching in his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. In this series of still-life paintings, he leads the viewer on a sentimental journey through the garden shed, the root cellar, the garage workshop, and the flora and fauna of forest and field. He populates his paintings with iconic objects once common in American life, now symbols of nostalgia and longing for simpler times. Well-worn tools, venerable household vessels and utensils, old books, dented beer cans, and rusted tins all speak of lifestyles that are now mostly a fading memory. Wildlife, especially birds, along with woodland foliage are often added to provide a contrast with the detritus of civilization. Mertsching places these collections of objects with careful consideration into narrative scenes that explore themes of the passing of time, the changing environment and seasons, and relationships between predator and prey. 

Mertsching’s painting style achieves a balance between realism and naturalism and is influenced by historical painting genres such as Flemish Still Life, Post-War Pop Art, and Americana. He works in his basement studio to build still life scenes from his decidedly eclectic collection of props. When not ensconced in his daily artistic practice he takes inspiration from fishing, gardening, painting plein air, and birdwatching. Mertching has consistently exhibited his artwork in solo and group gallery shows throughout the Pacific Northwest since 2005 and has been a represented artist at RiverSea since 2011. He has been featured in numerous print and online art publications, and his paintings have been commissioned for several album covers.