Rebecca Merry is an English artist and illustrator who works primarily in the traditional medium of egg tempera. She trained in Fine Art in Bristol and went on to study for an MA in Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts at the Royal College of Art in 1991. She also completed an MA at Cambridge School of Art in Children's Book Illustration in 2012. Rebecca’s imagery is inspired primarily by a longstanding interest in Sacred Art with particular reference to Icon Painting but other influences include European Folk Art, Renaissance portraiture and most recently the work of Manet and the French symbolist painter Odilon Redon. Recurrent themes include romantic and spiritual love, sacred journeys and traditional folktales from around the world. Travel also inspires her work, and after a trip to the West Indies in 2012 and some Caribbean styled portraits she has spent the last two summers on residences in Provence and the Dordogne in France.