This stunning watercolor of a Santa Fe Aspen is by Rio Grande School teacher and Extended Care Director Melissa Merritt.  It's 24" x 30" on watercolor paper stretched on arches.

Melissa Merritt is an exhibiting member of the Santa Fe Artist Society.  Her work is part of many private collections in Santa Fe, Austin, Fort Worth, Chicago, Nashville, and New York.  Ms. Merritt studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she received her BFA in Illustration.  She later studied in Florence and was accepted into an artist residency at the Byrdecliffe Artist Colony in Woodstock, New York.  Ms. Merritt later completed her art specialist certification at Parsons School of Design, at New School University.  She then taught art for seven years and completed her MA in Art and Art Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, before moving to Santa Fe where she fell in love with the landscape, the sky, and the people.