iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Well, I think this is done. A different direction for the brighter hearts I have been doing. More subdued and odd choices made as far as drawing and materials go. Soft Heart Ink, ballpoint pen, gel pen, and acrylic on paper mounted on wood panel 12 by 9 inches 2026

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

My last 4 small paintings, rearranged, as I have some fun futzing about in my place. Acrylic, ink, wood, etc.

131 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I like the intensity of this small piece, which is why I am posting it here. I think it's pretty obvious what influenced it. At some point we have to stop psychopaths from being allowed to lead, it will be the end of all if we don't. InkBook #71 Acrylic and ink on paper 8.5 by 5.5 inches 2026

A small painting on paper. Abstract with primarily red, brown and dark grey tones high lighted by pink lines.

051 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

The comic books I read as a kid, mainly super hero and horror comics, and mechanically printed on a press, seem very present here. A certain analogue feel to this small piece. Blues and the Abstract Truth Acrylic and ink on paper mounted on wood 18 by 14 inches 2026

A small painting heavily influenced by comic books from my childhood, Jackson pollock, and Jazz.

050 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Outside my place last night. Using an iPhone 12, they are not great at night time, but it's that not greatness that allowed me to capture this composition when I first saw it. Alley Way iPhone Photo 2025

An alley way across the street from my place at night time with strange light captured by my iPhone because it's not good at shooting night time shots.

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

The drawing, perhaps, I have spent the longest time on. I started it in 2022, and worked sporadically on over the years until a few months ago when I had a sense of what I wanted. A think, feeling Monster, not the dumb brute of cliche. Frankenstein 1931 Pencil on paper 14 by 11 inches 2022-25

An extremely well worked pencil drawing of The Monster from 1931's Frankenstein. Cropped and very expressive.

010 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

For Halloween. A drawing of The Monster from Frankenstein(1931) that I have intermittently been working on since 2023. Tight framing in an attempt to give more of a sense of an inner life of him rather than a fuller portrait of a man in makeup. Frank WIP Pencil on paper 14 by 11 inches

140 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Well, Trump posted that he wants to declare Antifa a terrorist organization. There is no Antifa organization, it's just a term for a loose group of left wing activists and organizations committed to anti fascism, hence the name. I wish this series I did during his first term wasn't so prescient.

A nasty drawing of Donald Trump with Hitler peering out from his mouth.

061 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Well, the dementia addled man baby hasn't been seen in a few days and when you are THE NEEDIEST MAN ON EARTH that's saying something. Hopefully a finger of bone is pointing at him. So, how about one of the original 40 something portraits I did that I haven't re-posted in a very long time? Enjoy!

010 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Very bright, and redolent of the cheap and wonderful crap from my early years, redolent of low rent thrills to this very unformed and naive mind. Halloween masks, comic ads, junk ephemera, etc; you know what I mean if you are of a certain age. Cactus Acrylic and ink on wood panel 10 by 8 inches 2025

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

My first portrait of the neediest man on earth since his previous term ended. Horns Ballpoint pen and pencil on paper 17 by 14 inches 2025

011 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

This happened. A wee bit of agitprop with an art history in joke for good measure. Trump's America Mixed media sculpture 2025

Empty toilet paper rolls, 2 of them, on a white board, with red and blue paint dripping down them. It's a play on America under Trump.

000 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

After a long sit down last night drawing away with my tiny lines it feels like it does not need anything else. Not sure what to make of this; it really seems to occupy its own space in what constitutes as my oeuvre. Which is good. Heart Colours Ink and acrylic on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

An ink drawing of a heart, with lots of small lines and bright colours.

052 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Some recent work, very different for me, with a very minimal colour palette but not minimal technique. Arranged like this to give a sense of what I am up to here. All 14 by 11 inches.

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Well, this seems done. On a beautiful warm and sunny Sunday your faithful, and faithless, bloviating renderer and scribe is indoors locked up inside a 14 by 11 inch painting who's meaning remains unknown. It feels finished, but, who knows. Ink, acrylic, and marker on wood panel 14 by 11 inches 2025

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Well, with the shit flying fast and furious; the dementia addled diaper crapping man baby having to fuck up everything he touches, and his reach is global now, how about the ameliorating properties of a heart drawing as balm for the soul? Orange Heart Ink and pencil on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Having a look through some old, very old, art supplies last night and cam across a small container of sepia ink for a Rapidograph pen. Which I do not possess. So I did this with it. InkBook #42 Ink and acrylic varnish on paper 8.5 by 5.5 inches 2025

A small piece of abstract art on paper using dark sepia ink and acrylic varnish applied with a palette knife.
8.5 by 5.5 inches.

010 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

It feels finished now. I have no idea where it came from, other than the tiny inkling of an idea that I wanted to do something based on an eggplant. And, as per usual, it went sideways, very sideways. Eggplant Acrylic and ink on wood panel 12 by 9 inches 2025

A small abstract painting, 12 by 9 inches, with vivid, garish colours like light yellow and fluorescent pink and green painted on wood panel.

2161 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I can’t seem to leave certain pieces alone. I added more colour to give it a slightly decaying organic sense around the edges and quite like it. Documented in the beautifully effulgent late, long light of pre-dusk day. Blue Balloon Ink, pencil crayon, and brush pen on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

A drawing of a balloon that looks like a mix between tecnology and organic matter.

031 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

So, insomnia big time recently. An acquaintance mentioned seeing art done with coffee and charcoal. Sleep deprived and trying my hand at this. Here is the result. Insomnia. Coffee, charcoal, acrylic, paper collage, and pencil crayon on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

010 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

I finished another one of my ink heart drawings I've been doing so that's good. Two shades brown ink, red ink, and black ink, a somewhat softer tone that I like. Brown Heart Ink on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

I have spent years trying to properly document this 20 year old painting and today I got as close as I have been, by some margin. What a strange thing art can be. White Acrylic, ink, and staples on wood panel 72 by 48 inches 2005

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

I haven’t posted one of these in a while, my InkBook series. Trying to get as simple as possible, and as immediate as possible, hence the flinging of paint. InkBook #39 Acrylic on paper 8.5 by 5.5 inches 2025

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

My latest project, a very small painting that I am not settled with yet, and looks like the corporate friendly painyings that emerged in the '60s and '70s when Abstract Expressionism was successfully de-politicized. A wee take on that, as it were.Egg Plant WIP Acrylic on wood panel 12 by 9 inches

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

It's Canadian federal election time tomorrow. Let's not vote for hatred, divisiveness, and former PM Stephen Harper's attack puppet. I did this today, as a warning of sorts, about Poilievre, a completely unsuitable candidate for PM. Pierre #3 Ballpoint pen and ink on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I painted this roughly half a decade ago. The bottom 5 inches of so have the fainted of ballpoint pen lines where the orange stops. It has somewhat slightly bothered me for some time, now. So I changed it. Process happens. Patterns! Recognitions! Acrylic and ink on wood panel 24 by 24ins. 2020-25

041 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Haven't posted here much. So, a new documentation of a drawing, one of over 40 I did, from Trump's first term. Trying something different as far as shooting these pieces goes. Trump #12 Ballpoint pen on paper 12 by 9 inches 2018

010 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

A photo taken very late last night in not so great conditions. But, it gives a sense of the fairly radical turn I made with this piece. So much more has to happen, but it feels like a painting now. WIP Acrylic, ink, and pencil crayon on panel 82 by 48 inches

010 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Well, I do believe this is finished. I also used a brown marker to give a bit more shape to this rather unusual project that has a sense of the old underground comix from the '60s and '70s. There you go. Red Heart Ink and brush pen on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

An ink drawing of a heart done with mainly red ink and some traces of brown ink.

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Well, with the news that odious former Canadian PM Harper has now officially endorsed his sock Poilievre in the upcoming election for PM how about a portrait I did of Harper? Bitumen Blob ink on paper 24 by 18 inches 2014

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

A rather odd detour involving insomnia, various materials, and having no idea what I was doing but making it all work somehow. Huh? Brush pen, marker, pencil crayon, and acrylic on paper 17 by 14 inches 2025

An abstract drawing/painting on paper, 17 by 14 inches in size.

050 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

I finished the the partial heart I posted on Single Awareness Day(SAD)over copious amounts of espresso over the weekend and here it is for your entertainment and edification. Heavily influenced by the great Philip Guston, who knew. Heart, Drawn Ink on paper 14 by 11 inches 2025

A heart drawn in a very obsessive Philip Guston type way.

051 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Another place to look at what I do: www.instagram.com/grant_mercs/ A random sampling.

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

What turned out to be the last in a small series concerning the garish Halloween masks of my youth. Also, a tiny parody of one of Robert Rauschenberg's most famous works, Factum I and Factum II, concerning diminished expectations. Doubled Diptych Acrylic and ink on wood panel 16 by 12 inches 2024

Small, bright duplicate paintings concerning Halloween.

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

A weird thought came to my head while cleaning up some old, dried out paint containers. A metaphor, of a sort, for my occasional art blocks, where due to things, usually external, like a psychopath trying to destroy the world, I cease to create as much as I would like. Two Jars iPhone Photo 2025

Dried out paint jars as metaphor for creative block.

000 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

A small art show I had last year. I was quite surprised when I dropped by after work and saw how it looked at night.

040 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Run Red Rabbit, Run Acrylic on wood panel 24 by 18 inches 2022-23 Exploring something different as far as form, and hopefully opening up something new.

1110 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Well, I went back into my portrait of the Ketamine Addled Man-Baby; this feels more right. Elon Ballpoint pen, pencil crayon, and acrylic on paper 17 by 14 inches 2025

130 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Rental housing, food, jobs, the working class, affordability, post secondary education, housing, agriculture, social media, newspapers, department stores, governments, quality of life, democracy, the planet, etc, etc, etc........ Nope, looks like they've got to all of the above already, and more.

010 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

I think my portrait of Muskilini is finished. Instead of the usual grotesque rendering I went more straight drawing because he provides his own grotesqueness. Elon Ballpoint pen, pencil, and pencil crayon on paper 17 by 14 inches 2025

110 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL SINGLES AWARENESS DAY(I-SAD)!! Oddly enough it also falls on February 14th, strange, no? So, to celebrate how about a barely there heart, a piece of Termite Art as opposed to White Elephant Art? YOU'RE WELCOME!!Heart on Paper WIP Ink and pencil on paper 14 by 11 inches

000 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

My somewhat quixotic project of redoing the documentation of my Twump portraits from his first term continues apace. Guess which photo I took today:-) Twump Baby Ink on paper 14 by 1 1inches 2019?

040 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

More work done on my portrait of the ketamine addled man-baby Elon Musk. Not quite done, but nearly done. Please share, if at all possible. Elon Ballpoint pen, pencil, and pencil crayon on paper 17 by 14 inches 2025

More work done on my portrait of the ketamine addled man-baby Elon Musk. Not quite done, but nearly done.
Trying something different, more straight up than my usual odious portraits of odious people, and, a splotch of colour as a key signifier.
Please share, if at all possible.

Elon
Ballpoint pen, pencil, and pencil crayon on paper
17 by 14 inches
2025

050 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Slowly documenting again all the portraits of Twump I did during his first term. I wish I did not have to do this but here we are again. Trump #3 Ballpoint pen on paper 14 by 11 inches 2017

030 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

A photo taken beside the warehouse I call work on Tuesday that gives a sense of what it's like with this rare, miniature, full on winter here. A photo that also captures, what I think, is the moment we are all in. Slough in February iPhone photo 2025

021 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

A series of 4 drawings I did last year that feel right for our current moment. OddHead 17 by 14, and 14 by 11 inches on paper All ballpoint pen, ink, and brush pen 2024

020 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

So, an update of this work in progress, my portrait of Elon Musk. Instead of the usual grotesqueries I visit on subjects I decided to go more subtle and let Musk be Musk. He is grotesque in and of himself, he doesn't need my help. Elon WIP Ballpoint pen and pencil on paper 17 by 14 inches

000 0

Grant Mercs @rumiatted.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

I think this odd little project, derived from a worn out sketch from work, is done. The quotidian, the refuse of Modernism, the thing that is not quite there. Weathered Balloon Ink, ball point pen, and acrylic on paper mounted on wood panel, collage, and gauze 12 by 9 inches

0142 0