Kris Mercer – Nottinghamshire Artist Exploring Landscape & Emotion in Paint

Artist & Practice

I’m a contemporary British painter based in Nottinghamshire.

I create aerial landscapes, both rural and urban, and seascapes that explore space, distance and perspective. Using photographic reference as a starting point, I rework each scene through colour and composition, distilling it into a more pared-back, graphic view.

Whether painting the patchwork geometry of farmland seen from above or the quiet sweep of sea meeting sky, my work is shaped by an instinct to step back — to see the wider view. Much of it is constructed from an interior vantage point, translating the experience of openness through colour, structure and light.

Across all series, shapes and colour are the binding force. I lean into intuitive, sometimes bold choices to evoke mood and movement, balancing stillness with energy and structure with spontaneity.

Though the subjects vary, the intention remains consistent: to create a pause — a moment of perspective — in which both I and the viewer can step back and reconnect with a wider view.

My work is held in private collections across the UK and internationally, including the United States, Europe, and Australia.

My Journey

Most of my views of the world come from either a car window or a plane window. I live with Bipolar disorder, SAD, and a chronic back problem — so I don’t often venture out into the landscape itself, be it urban or rural. But that distance has shaped the work. There’s a particular longing in painting wide open spaces from within an enclosed space.

I returned to education as a mature student, studying Art and Design at Mansfield College of Art. After completing my BTEC with distinction, I was offered a degree place in Derby — but chose instead to uproot myself and my twin daughters for an adventure in Cyprus. It was, to put it mildly, not quite the adventure I’d imagined.

Regular flights between Cyprus and the UK gave me a lasting fascination with the landscape seen from above — coastlines, farmland and urban areas reduced to pattern and geometry. That perspective stayed with me long after I returned home in 2000, though it took many years before it surfaced clearly in my painting. When it did, it felt like the work I was always supposed to be making.

I connect with the world via my paintings. The process is grounding and meditative — a way of holding onto open horizons from within my own four walls.

2026
Mansfield Museum – 4th April – 27th June

2025
Open Studio Notts
Jackson’s extended long list
Longlisted – VAA, Artist of the Year Award

2024
Dame Catherine Arts Summer Exhibition
DCArts prize, shortlisted – Best in show
Longlisted – VAA, Artist of the Year Award

2023
Bringing Artists into View – Worksop Library,
Open Studio Notts
Longlisted – VAA, Visual Art Open

2019
Cityscapes, London And Beyond
Lumi Arts

2018
The Artist Collection
Patchings Gallery.

2017
Clairefontaine Award – The Artist Open
The Artist exhibition Award – The Artist Open
Charlfred Gallery, London
ING Discerning eye, Mall galleries, London
Thoresby gallery 21st Open
Open Studios Notts
Patchings Exhibition “The Artist”

2016
Derwent Award  –  The Artist Open
Focus Gallery Nottingham
Open Studios Notts
Patchings Exhibition “The Artist”

2015
Solo exhibition – The Gherkin, Hosted by Swiss Re in support of Alzeimers society
Patchings Exhibition “The Artist”
Rufford Courtyard Gallery,
Open Studios Notts

2014
Thoresby Gallery 101
Patchings Exhibition “The Artist”
Thoresby Gallery open
Longlisted for National Open Art (NOA

2013
Outside In: Central exhibition at Compton Verney. Artwork featured
Thoresby Gallery open

2012
Patchings Exhibition “The Artist”
The Harley Gallery Exhibition, ‘H is for…’,

2011
Guardian London Lives Competition. Bankside Gallery

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