Chicago metal artist fortifies welding frequently by drawing daily

Adept at drawing from a young age, metal sculptor Moises Mercado got a career boost as an artist when he won a gold medal in a SkillsUSA welding competition. Images: Moises Mercado

“I draw every day, but I’m certainly no prodigy,” said welding artist Moises Mercado. Captivated by his mother’s old drawings when he was a child around 4 or 5 years old, he has pursued drawing as a hobby much of his life. Somewhat introverted as a youngster, he did a lot of learning by doing, fortified with weekend classes here and there, some solo and some in tandem with his mother. He recalls occasional sessions at the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago.

In his teen years, a stint working with his grandfather -- straightening bent automobile fenders and body panels and doing welding here and there -- introduced him to the twin aspects of welding: its strength and its beauty.

Talent on Display

At the College of Lake County, Grayslake, Ill., he pursued an associate degree in welding.

The coursework wasn’t just a matter of welding for manufacturing or construction. It allowed plenty of latitude for artistic expression, which was right up Mercado’s alley.

“Most artists have some trouble creating something from scratch,” he said. “They find inspiration somewhere. I get a lot of inspiration from movies, mainly fictional creatures.” Furthermore, his notebooks, filled with drawings of reptiles and birds, reflect a love of animals. The contours and proportions are realistic and the textures lifelike, and he has a knack for transferring concepts from paper to metal.

“When I weld, it’s like I’m drawing with metal,” he said. “I meld these two art forms.”

His flair for artistic welding caught the attention of one of his instructors and the chair of the school’s welding department, Karsten Illg.

“For the final project in one of his welding classes, the students make their own project or work from a blueprint,” Mercado said. “I made two of my own items, a sunflower and a butterfly, and I earned an A.” Illg suggested that Mercado should enter the SkillsUSA Welding Sculptures competition in 2021. Mercado was thrilled to take the top honor in Illinois, the gold medal, by creating an owl.

A Foundation of Vocation

It might seem hard to believe, but although Mercado is barely out of his teen years, he already has a resume with a lot of varied experience. In addition to autobody work, he has one stint in manufacturing and one in structural fabrication under his belt, and just recently he started a new job in manufacturing.

His work in manufacturing got rolling when he showed up at a commercial door and window manufacturer with no relevant experience and talked his way into a job. He quickly became proficient and spent two years at it until the pandemic struck. Looking for a new challenge, Mercado found a job with a structural steel fabricator. His smooth hand earned him a spot on the company’s miscellaneous projects team, welding handrails and other items that needed both strength and an aesthetic appeal. His most recent employment is for a manufacturer that specializes in machinery, specifically duct cleaning equipment.

After years of drawing, Chicago-area artist Moises Mercado applied his artistic vision to working with metal.

It’s not a straight path, but it’s an excellent variety of experience, especially for a welding artist.

Big Plans, Thorough Preparations

Like most of us, Mercado doesn’t have a specific plan, but he does have big plans. Working as a welding artist is certainly an ambition of his, perhaps part-time, perhaps full-time. In the meantime, he’s bright enough to know that adding some more variety to his resume is a good idea and he recently took a job leasing apartments.

“Most of my job experience is blue-collar work,” he said. “I thought it would be beneficial to have some white-collar experience.” A friend had a job leasing apartments and thought that Mercado—articulate, enthusiastic, versatile, and a natural salesman—would be good at it. Mercado thought that dressing up to go to work in an office would be a good professional experience.

He doesn’t do anything in isolation but pursues activities that reinforce and support the others—his welding job reinforces his artwork, which appears at his website, which is fortified by his Instagram account. And meanwhile he has an office job that just might be the foundation of a career and the income he’ll need to support his artwork in the future.

He says he’s not a drawing prodigy, but he certainly is a preparation prodigy.

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