Francesca Balaguer- Mercado

About Francesca 

Francesca Balaguer-Mercado, visual storyteller and multi-media creative imprinted her unique signature to the local art scene with solo exhibits cementing her brand of whimsical portraiture and one-of a kind aesthetic. She successfully completed her masters in fine arts in San Francisco graduating cum laude and apprenticed among some of the most renowned artists in the US. She was dead-set on a career trajectory of exploring more and more artistic expressions. But as it often happens, life alters the course to unexplored territories that we never would’ve considered in the first place. For Francesca, the birth of her son Faber, as well as a series of tragic events in her personal life have sparked her own metamorphosis from a purely expression-driven artist to a mother first and foremost, an instrument of creation in the highest sense. 

Prior to the birth of her son, Francesca had planned on carrying on her artistic pursuits full-time after she had finished a self-imposed maternity leave. But as fate would have it, she and her husband couldn’t find a suitable care-giver or even adequate help that would allow Francesca to work. She was thrust into full-time motherhood and managing a household. These were unchartered waters and she struggled with the loneliness, self-doubt about her value and contribution to the world, as well as the longing to get back into her artistic pursuits. But as she nursed and nestled Faber each day, the inexplicable joy of being with her son and seeing all the glorious milestones of his young life were also too palpable to ignore. Motherhood when done right is a highly creative process and once Francesca had embraced her new role, the artist-mother was re-born inside her aching to express and share the wonderful contours and textures of this season of life. 

Nurturing a child requires deliberately slowing down, letting go of perfection and a willingness to allow wonder and spontaneity into our daily life. Francesca, her husband Franco, and Faber moved out of the city into a lush compound with her extended family, where they grew their own vegetables surrounded by farm animals. These principles of slow, intentional living eventually led Francesca to incorporate Saori weaving, crochet, needle point and other forms of fiber art into her daily life with her family. These humble crafts are traditionally function-driven and made in between caring for children and housework. Francesca’s unique vision however transformed these domestic crafts into a story of her journey and transformation as an artist-mother. Her latest exhibit, “A Beautiful Mess”, is a testament of her commitment to motherhood first and her steadfast faith in the fatherly love of her Creator who had not forgotten the desire of her heart to share her art with the world.

In between the mundane tasks of making a home, Francesca has gratefully created beautiful pieces that symbolize different stages of her journey – from miscarriages, to pregnancy, to breastfeeding and playing with Faber – as well as the spectrum of emotions that accompanied each phase. She speaks of the constant cycle of emptying of self and re-filling with love that fuels her to press on with just one more dance, one more dirty diaper and one more story despite the wall of exhaustion that many a mother face every day. 

Her art now is a celebration of motherhood, the vital work of raising children and its invaluable contribution to a functioning society. It is a reminder that value is not solely seen in what we do as a profession but in who we are and who we become in the process.