Making Lemonade in Vermont

Gloria King Merritt’s Happy Accident

by Taryn Plumb

It basically started out as a fluke.

Four years ago, a tendon snapped in Gloria King Merritt’s thumb (the result of a 40-year-old injury). Her hand had to be rewired; she couldn’t do the simplest things, like fasten buttons or tie her shoes.

Her doctors told her that in order to get her dexterity back, she should repetitively make quarter-inch marks with a pencil on a pad. That got old pretty quickly; it was not only boring, but mind-numbing.

So instead, she picked up a tablet and a stylus and began experimenting with digital art. As she put it, she “devoured” software, and within 12 weeks, had a complete drawing.

“Now I’m addicted,” said the Woodstock, Vermont-based digital artist, whose work will be on display through July 17 as part of “Domesticated Beasts and Dreams of Home: Early Summer Group Show,” also featuring works by Bonnie Barnes, Joe Fucigna, Julie Goetz, Cynthia Kirkwood, John Matusz, Charlotte Potter and Mark Eliot Schwabe at The Bundy Modern, just off Route 100 on Bundy Road in Waitsfield, VT.

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