People are usually caught off guard when they learn Portland and Sunriver abstract painter Ross Mercer is a former physicist. “I think that people are probably universally surprised at this combination of activities because they seem, at least on the surface, so different,” he said. “You know, one is analytical and there’s a mental process, a kind of linear mental process that goes on to get from A to B to C, to develop ideas and solutions and thoughts. And then you look at an abstract painting and um, and it looks completely different. It looks disordered and chaotic.” For the next several months, you can see several of Mercer’s large-scale abstracts at the relatively new Nashwood Gallery in the Bend Maker’s District. If you stop by the gallery during the May First Friday Art Walk, you’ll also have the opportunity to meet Mercer in person.…