NEW YORK , NY – October 2007 The boundless imagination of Daniel Merriam is unsurpassed in a world where playfulness is everything, and the viewer becomes a dreamer dancing with their own inner child again. On October 19th, from 6-9pm, Animazing Gallery will host a reception to debut a collection of new works by the artist, who will be on hand to sign copies of his much anticipated second book, The Eye of a Dreamer. RSVP requested to the cocktail reception, where guests will enjoy live music by a Juilliard duo during the event. Call 212-226-7374 or log onto www.animazing.com.

Daniel Merriam will also be in the gallery on Saturday afternoon, October 20 th, from 2-6PM. This exhibition is free, and open to the public. It runs through December, 2007. Animazing Gallery is located in Soho at 461 Broome Street, between Greene and Mercer Streets.

Regarded as one of the world’s foremost watercolorists, Daniel Merriam has captured the hearts and curiosities of collectors worldwide. His paintings are dreams in full color that invite the viewer to join a journey into the imagination, where the worlds of reality and fantasy collide in an explosion of color, shapes and symbolism. Merriam is a contemporary master whose work has received rave reviews, and whose collectors are fiercely passionate about their collections.

Born in 1963 in a rural town in Maine, Merriam is one of seven creative and artistic children. He taught himself to paint at a very young age, and used his art as a method of reflective play throughout his childhood, Merriam studied mechanical and architectural design at Central Maine Vocational technical Institute.

He first turned his talents professionally to the commercial art field working as an architectural and commercial illustrator for a number of multi-national corporations. Merriam's illustrations received numerous awards including several Broderson awards, a New England Scholastics Press Association award, and the University of New England Honorary Masters of Humane Letters in recognition for the potential social contribution of his work.

Merriam’s true passion always remained with painting the expression of his own inner vision. In 1986, Merriam shifted his focus solely to fine art and later that year had his first solo exhibition in Maine. Since then, his exhibitions throughout the United States have been applauded and achieved critical acclaim. In 1998, Monarch Editions published The Art of Daniel Merriam: The Impetus of Dreams , which captured selections from a decade of the artist’s work. In 2005 the book was inducted into the permanent archives of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Merriam’s work is displayed in many public collections including The Riverside Museum of Art in California, The Gesundheit! Institute in Virginia and the Manhattan Club in New York. Merriam has painted covers for books by Paula Volsky and Neal Barrett Jr., as well as for an international literary journal, Mid-American Review . The artist’s work was used for the playbill of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare produced by the Tony® Award-winning McCarter Theatre in New Jersey. Merriam's paintings are currently being featured in a Group Exhibition of Imaginary Realism, which has already traveled to Denmark, the Netherlands and France.

About Animazing Gallery
Animazing Gallery, New York’s Premier Animation Art and Illustration Gallery, is owned and operated by Heidi Leigh and Nick Leone. Its showrooms are located in New York in Soho and in the Chateau de Belcastel in France. Leigh is a charter member of The Animation Art Guild, and is on the board of advisors for MoCCA, New York’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Her husband, Nick Leone, was the Gallery Director of the Warner Bros. flagship Studio Store on Fifth Avenue, and currently is the Gallery Director of Animazing’s SOHO location. Animazing Gallery features the finest collection of animation art and fine art that is fun, including The PEANUTS Paintings by Tom Everhart, and The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss collection.