Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmel Mercado.
Hi Carmel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am an artist, illustrator, and eye surgeon. My time connecting with patients in the clinic, especially my pediatric patients, has deeply influenced my art and vice versa. My time as an artist reminds me of our shared humanity and helps me to be a more compassionate and connected caregiver to those I meet.
Once upon a time, I was a little girl that lived on the edge of the Everglades in South Florida and dreamed of exploring the world beyond the river of sawgrass in the backyard. I was driven to make something of myself and explore the world.
In the two decades of schooling that came after, I got myself a couple of degrees at MIT, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Stanford. I held roles such as clinical instructor at the Oregon Health & Science University and assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington. In this time, I also moved around and lived in several cities across not only North America but in Europe, Asia, and Oceania as well.
Several years ago, while I was working with one of my ophthalmology fellows in the operating room, she asked me how I managed to create the life I had then and what it meant to have a fulfilling career. As I was reflecting on her questions, I realized that there was a sense of apathy that I felt towards my then career path. There was something missing. My fellow’s questions felt so jarring because I knew what it was but had not yet faced my reality head-on. What was missing in my life was my first love, and that was art. Since childhood and through the years of schooling, I had a long-running parallel interest and love for art and the creative process. From elementary school to college to medical school to even residency, I would gravitate to leading the creative opportunities for all of the clubs I would participate in. You want a shirt made? Done. You want a logo and website created? Done. You want an end-of-the-year residency video filmed and produced in 2 weeks? Done. Somehow I had gotten so caught up with pursuing a career solely in academic medicine that I had stopped making time for art. By the time I became an attending doctor, that emptiness was feeling heavier and heavier with each year that passed.
What came next was probably one of the most drastic changes in my life. This hunger to create and be fully immersed in the creative process became so great that I could no longer ignore it. Small projects here and there were no longer enough. So, I decided to walk away from the career I had spent two decades building and took the deep dive to become a full-time artist and develop some mastery in my craft.
Fast forward to today and my career is now a delightfully quirky smattering of public art installations and whimsical characters created for walls, paintings, illustrations, and educational materials for both kids and adults. I tie my medical knowledge into some of the art collaborations I have. While I had to initially let go of my identity in medicine when I first delved into the world of art, I can happily say that I have found a satisfying middle ground. Outside of being in the art studio, I travel locally and abroad on my own time to help on medical missions and serve those in the community who might not have access to care in a clinic or hospital setting.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say my life would not have been what it is today without taking some risks. With this comes uncertainty about the unknown, anxiety, and internal strife. The most difficult struggles for me have been the internal sort. Throughout a lot of my schooling, I did not see others who looked like me in the classroom, the clinic, or the operating room. Thus, earlier on in my career, as a newly minted attending doctor, there was anxiety that others would judge my merit solely on my appearance because perhaps you would not expect to see a petite woman of my stature to be the main surgeon in the operating room or in the clinic. When trying something new for the first time, such as when tweaking a surgical technique or working with a different type of art medium to create a piece, adrenaline would course through me as I battled the self-defeating inner critic who questioned whether I was good enough to push forward with this new idea. Making the pivot from a full-time doctor with a busy practice to full-time artist felt like a leap off a cliff in some ways. Was I going to destroy the life I had created up to that point by making such a dramatic change? It took a while to realize that most of the conflict I felt was being created in my head. To this day, I am still learning how to sit with self-compassion when it comes to these internal struggles.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Art is my way of celebrating a joy for life with the community. Through bold outlines, bright colors, speckled backgrounds, and whimsical storybook characters, I strive to evoke happy bemusement, laughter, and a feeling of childhood nostalgia. My art also serves as a medium through which I celebrate diversity, positivity, and inclusivity of individuals who may have mental and physical impairments. In particular, as a nod to my life as a pediatric ophthalmologist, many of my animal characters have eyewear to encourage positivity around glasses wear. I share much of my art in public spaces, such as through the city utility boxes you can find along the streets. If a stranger in the community happens to come across my art and smiles, I have done my job in adding a little bit of joy to their life. I am currently working on designing a large-scale mural for the waiting room of a children’s hospital. I am super excited to be able to combine my life in medicine with my life in art in this way!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
For the last few years, I have really been into daily meditation as a way to combat any self-defeating thoughts that creep in. I’ve used Headspace a lot as an aid for meditation, and there are many other apps or podcasts available that suit this purpose so you can find one that works for you. I also find that regular exercise, such as long walks with my dogs, is helpful for structuring my day and finding focus when it comes time to getting work done.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.CarmelArtLab.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carmelartlab
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carmelartlab
Image Credits
Hokuto Ueda, Shane Bang, Carmel Mercado
