“People who love art seem to be the happiest people.”
The quote above comes from the 45-year-old Melver Mercado, smiling nervously as he related that he is not used to being interviewed.
The dreamer
In his elementary years, the young Melver eagerly watched Bob Ross’ painting shows on TV and would diligently do his research after. He would try out what he learned with mostly crude results, but he persisted, despite the very limited stash of art books available in the public library. By the time he reached high school, he had sold a few of his pieces to relatives for a steal and even explored the art of T-shirt printing.
His parents discouraged him from taking Fine Arts in college so he ended up taking technical vocational courses instead until he finally found his way to his dream course, with Jose “Kimsoy” Yap as one of his first teachers. Oil was the first medium he learned while in school, then he moved on to watercolor. He was advised by Adeste Deguilmo to find a stable job once he graduated and that he did. Starting as a design interpreter for an export company, he moved on to jewelry design where he conceptualized and executed his designs in high-end costume jewelry and purses. The recession that followed hit his employer so hard that they had to declare bankruptcy.
Melver took this as a sign that he needed to re-learn painting, so he joined the Cebu Academy of Arts and was reunited with Yap. One of the gallery owners during that time invited him to exhibit his work and during one of these events, his pieces caught the eye of someone from the French consulate. Soon after that, in 2013, he was one of the artists who were awarded a month-long residency program at the “Le 100 Etablissement” in Paris, France. Fellow artists with him on this journey were Dennis Montera, Felix Catarata, Palmy Pe-Tudtud, Radel Paredes, Gigi Ocampo, Josua Cabrera, Marvin Natural and, of course, Master Yap.
The artist
Upon returning home from that sojourn, his work focused primarily on pieces that captured the true mood of the Paris that he saw and experienced. He chose to interpret a side of Paris not usually seen by your regular tourists; the bowels of Paris that were more raw and melancholic. His pieces were mostly somber ones and from his viewpoint, seemed to be unappreciated by a market that was not ready for this style.
Maritime is the favorite subject of Melver, this interest fueled by numerous childhood travels by sea from island to island. He is partial to painting yachts and dreams of owning one someday. When school is in session, he rarely accepts commissioned work as he prefers to paint during daytime. Painting figures is more interesting to him than trying to dabble in abstract.
Asked to name three artists whom he admires the most, the top choice is obvious. Yap, he said, because of his mastery and perfection of the human figure. He also mentioned Jun Impas, whom he admires for coming from scratch to rising to his current status and yet remaining humble. Then there is Deguilmo who was an inspiration since his early years.
The teacher
After his residency in Paris, he taught foundation courses in a local university and found this side of him truly rewarding because not only was he able to openly share his ideas, he was also learning from his students — interacting with them reminded him of long-forgotten lessons.
Recently, he has been devoting much of his time to sculpting and truly enjoys the process, as laborious as it may seem. He said there is a market for it in Manila. He said he wants to build a workshop so he can have more space for his sculptures.
As he ages, he said he is becoming more spiritual and philosophical and wants to transform even the simplest ideas to something that will have a huge impact on society. The pandemic, which he refers to as a “foggy time,” seemed to be a major turning point for him. He said that when his students returned to the classroom after being “in the cave” for many months, some of them would have blank stares; seemingly a result of the horrible realities of being caught in that vacuum for so long and how that impacted the lives of their families.
Will it make him sad if a student of his with so much talent and endless potential will opt not to take the artistic path?
“Nothing is wasted,” he said. “What I teach them they can apply in any career direction they choose to take. Like if they become surgeons, their training in drawing in three dimensions will be of use to them somehow.”