Celebrated painter Merryl Jaye's style is not only visionary, it is unmistakably recognizable and irrevocably her own. Her beautiful scenic vistas evoke the intrinsic majesty and romance of nature, as seen through the eye of a free-spirited contemporary impressionist. Her artistic sensibility is defined by her innate understanding of light and her love for brilliant color; her unedited, painterly brushstrokes seem as though they might have been daubed onto her canvas while overlooking the left banks of the Seine.

Raised in Southern California, Merryl began painting at age twelve. Fascinated by the performing arts, she also studied music, winning multiple scholarships as a singer of light opera. In her late teens, Merryl served her country by traveling to Vietnam with the USO to entertain the troops through song. After concluding a successful career as a songwriter, recording artist, and stage performer, she chose to follow her true passion: painting.

Like her gift of music, the composition of Merryl's artworks achieve a sonorous and well-balanced harmony. Her subject matter consists of people or places you feel as though you've known before. Her enchanting cottages, her ethereal landscapes and her heartfelt images of children are timeless and precious. Her provocative depictions of powerful women of diverse ethnicities effortlessly combine sensuality and dignity.

Starting as a classical artist, Merryl's technique instinctively transitioned into a more freely styled, interpretive approach as her passion for the natural elements grew. It is as though nature dictates her brushstrokes, which create the effect of constant movement.

Merryl's deep background in music is a major influence in her artwork; it affords her the sensitivity and understanding to capture the emotion and spontaneity of live jazz on her canvases. Merryl began painting portraits of the jazz greats in 2005, painstakingly selecting her subjects for their preeminence in the field. Her jazz portraits are vividly rendered in a freshly modern expressionistic style. This successfully brings the twin mediums of art and music into a synergistic harmony. For each of her jazz subjects, she creates an uncanny likeness, capturing the depth and breadth of their true musical essence.

Merryl Jaye's original paintings and hand-embellished giclée canvases are sought after and owned by an ever-widening list of prestigious collectors, including many notable individuals in politics, business and entertainment.                                                                                                                                                                              

Merryl Jaye presenting her portrait of JOHN COLTRANE to BENNY GOLSON 

gifted by SOKA University in Southern California 2015

Jazz great BUD SHANK and Merryl at the LA Jazz Institute concert 2008 

KJAZZ DJ BUBBA JACKSON with Merryl at T.H.E. Show, Los Angeles' premier high

end audiophile show 2016

Famed trumpet player JACK SHELDON at Merryl's art show

at legendary jazz club Charlie-O's in Southern California

Actor WILFORD BRIMLEY and his wife Beverly purchasing Merryl's

painting of RAY CHARLES at the Jazz Party in Newport Beach 2015

Director JEFF LIEBERMAN, Merryl and singer/songwriter BILLY VERA at the

Laemmle Theatre premiere of Lieberman’s film THE AMAZING NINA SIMONE.  

Merryl's portrait appeared in the film

Merryl presenting a commissioned painting to AKOSUA BUSIA star

of the Academy Award nominated film THE COLOR PURPLE

Merryl’s painting of LENA HORNE on the cover of UMOJA

the oldest black owned magazine in Wisconsin

Merryl’s paintings of the great LOUIS ARMSTRONG and NAT "KING" COLE in U.S. embassy magazine in Kiev, Ukraine

Merryl presenting her commissioned work to Academy Award nominee

MARGARET AVERY for her role in THE COLOR PURPLE

Jillian Williams, widow of JOE WILLIAMS, as she purchased Merryl’s painting

of the jazz legend

Merryl with jazz singer ERNIE ANDREWS at BARBARA

MORRISON'S CALIFORNIA JAZZ & BLUES MUSEUM

which acquired several of Merryl's pieces for the opening

Merryl presenting her painting to famed jazz bassist JOHN CLAYTON

Jazz trombonist WYCLIFFE GORDON with Merryl purchasing his commissioned portrait

Wycliffe Gordon and his commissioned portrait

Merryl’s painting of jazz violinist STEPHANE GRAPPELLI

on the cover of Mel Bay’s music publication

Merryl Jaye’s painting LACE UMBRELLA appeared in the

feature film "A FAMILY THING" starring James Earl Jones

and Robert Duvall

Merryl's painting CHYNA ROSE on the cover

of THE FLOWERLOVER