Meet Meredith Gillespie | Medical Illustrator –> Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Meredith Gillespie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Meredith, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
There is no balance – it is a balancing act – or falling from one high wire onto the next.

I have led two very separate artistic careers. For the first career, I was single and a successful medical illustrator. I was a Certified Medical Illustrator, a top producer in my firm, and an active member of our professional organization, The Association of Medical illustrators. I had always wanted to have children and my family life is a top priority to me. I had specifically chosen the field of medical illustration for its potential flexibility. However, once I was married and had my first son, I soon realized that while I had chosen the right career, I had not chosen the right firm. The firm I worked for only offered two weeks for maternity leave and were not interested in discussing flex time. I basically had the choice of finding incredibly expensive full time child care and leaving my son 11 hours a day to drive to an office where they took my commitment for granted or I could quit. Luckily, with the support of my husband I quit. I am very grateful that I had that opportunity.
However, being an artist does not fit in a work life balance. Your work is your life even though can take on many forms. So as soon as my son was napping regularly, I took him down to my basement studio and started painting. I posted my work on social media and before long I had as much commissioned work as I could handle. The commissions ranged from pet portraits, house paintings, figure paintings, landscapes, abstracts and even more recently a conceptual COVID painting for the CDC. Each year brought new challenges as well; my husband’s busy career, a move to a new home, the birth of another baby boy, soccer mom duties, a pandemic, and then virtual kindergarten.

I am entering the second act of my story. The boys are more consistently in school and which gives me more time in the studio. Every free moment I have allows me to gravitate back to the studio and I have the time to develop my own work for the first time. After school drop-off at 9am, my studio time begins and will last straight through until 12:45pm pickup. I sometimes get an hour here or there in the afternoon but mainly work can begin again at 8:45pm once they are in bed. It is choppy but I allow myself to work on what I feel like during each chunk of time and do not stick to a set schedule — I just have a list of what I want to do each week and do each task at the most conducive time. For example, I will write blog posts on Monday mornings and do my timed loose sketches on Friday nights. All of my work seems to get done but it never feels like work. At the moment, I am working on a series of cloud paintings. They are not quite abstract and they are not quite realistic. They are calming and allows the viewer a space to think which as everyone knows is a rarity these days.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art would not necessarily fit into one category. I have a definite illustrator side — I love details and I can really get lost in the intricate nuances of my subject. However, after a lifetime of details it becomes too tedious – or as a professor once told me, “too all over the same”. I do love large expanses — subtle colors and hidden gems in a palette dominated by one or two colors. It is the balance between these two approaches that intrigues me. For example, one small dot of red on the horizon when the sun goes down across a wide pasture under an open sky. I could paint that same scene forever.

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I would have to say my extensive training and experience in medical illustration and figure drawing. I spent a year focusing on figure drawing at the Art Students League in New York — nothing can replicate the challenge and subtlety of figure drawing. To become proficient in capturing the essence of a person in the moment is magical.

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My journey was certainly not linear and not an easy route either. The common thread throughout its circuitous route is my fascination with the beauty and complexity of nature.

In college, I started as a biology major with an emphasis on botany. I spent a great deal of my undergraduate career observing botanical structures which were essentially beautifully complex abstract images. I moved on to scientific illustration as a double major and would ultimately end up working in New York at the American Museum of Natural History in the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology. I honed my observation skills rendering turtle skulls as well as developing a rich appreciation for the human figure at the Art Students League in the evening figure drawing classes. The next step was on to Johns Hopkins in the highly competitive Master’s program in the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine. There were only six of us in the class but was supplemented by a larger group of elite first year medical students. I consider one of my highest accomplishments was to have been included in this group. After graduation in 2003, there were three job openings in our field across the US! Fortunately, I was able to find a job at a firm in Atlanta. For the next thirteen years, I grew with the firm and gained many invaluable experiences including business skills, marketing strategies, organizational skills and even how to deal with ridiculous people! The most important lesson learned would be that while great art can be made spontaneously, it can also happen through sheer perseverance and work. If it is in you, it will come out Keep on keeping on… Hard continuous effort does pay off eventually even though it may come later than one hoped.

My next chapter is developing as I write these questions – I am progressing from a commissioned artist to a fine artist as I find the time and space to create my own work. This may be the best chapter yet.

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Each work draws from years of experience and can never be replicated — even by me. While I definitely have a certain style (which is ever developing), I never want to create assembly line art. I will always try something new.

Links of Interest
My website: www.meredithgillespie.com
@ mgillespie_artist

Art as Applied to Medicine Johns Hopkins School of Medicine: https://medicalart.johnshopkins.edu

Art Students League NYC: @ aslnyc

CDC (report link): https://www.cdcfoundation.org/blog/new-report-highlights-cdc-global-response-work-protect-us-all

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Since I am in my mid-forties with two small children, my weekend itinerary has shifted, however, some of the family friendly options have become my favorite so I have concocted a mashup of activities – family friendly days and date night evenings. If my friend arrives on a Friday night, then I would love to take them to the Bookhouse Pub on Ponce. They have an amazing veggie plate and all sorts of beers. Afterwards, you can go over to the Clermont Hotel Rooftop Bar for amazing views. If you get a wild hair, you can go downstairs to the Clermont Lounge but then you might not be able to continue with the itinerary the next day ;).

The next day after an early brunch at our neighborhood Treehouse restaurant, I would head to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It is an idyllic spot. The children’s garden provides plenty of activities for the kids and the botanist nerd in me plans and replans my yard as walk through the acres of gardens and forest. The Garden also has a wonderful restaurant – Longleaf. Kale Caesar salad with a glass of rosé is my standing order and hot dog or grilled cheese for the boys.

Another option would be to head to Decatur. The Little Shop of Stories is a wonderful bookstore for kids and the Brick Store Pub has delicious fare. If I had to move from our current neighborhood, it would definitely be to Decatur — it is a wonderful place, full of wonderful and interesting people.

Time to switch to the evening plans – my husband and I love to see live music (mainly of the Americana genre). We typically see a show at least once month. Our usual game plan takes us to Wrecking Bar on in Little Five Points at 6:30pm and then a short walk around the corner to the Variety Playhouse in order to make it for the opening act. I always like to see the opener – it feels more real. Other great restaurant/venue combo is the The Argosy/The Earl in East Atlanta.

Sunday will find me at church on the westside at Trinity Anglican. It is a vibrant church located in an old warehouse building (and for a side note is where I met my husband). The westside has many such commercial buildings that have been repurposed. The Works is an example of this new development and houses Dr. Scofflaw’s Brewing along with many shops and food options. I love that they have wonderful Asian options all in one place – sushi and pho — so yummy! The Works also has an amazing outdoor playground that kids can run around in and one can just sit and soak up the sunshine, watch the clouds and contemplate the next painting to start on Monday morning.

Instagram handles:
Bookhouse Pub: @bookhousepub
Clermont Rooftop: @ hotelclermont

Treehouse Restaurant: @treehousepub
Atlanta Botanical Garden: @atlbotanical
Little Shop of Stories: @ littleshopofstories
Brick Store Pub: @brickstorepub
Wrecking Bar: @ wreckingbarbrewpub
Variety Playhouse: @ varietyplayhouse

Trinity Anglican: @atltrinity
The Works: @theworksatl

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I will dedicate my shoutout to my husband, Jay Gillespie – Without his support and belief as well his honest critiques and amazing editorial skills….I would still be chained to desk in suburbia. I would have never had this opportunity to spend priceless time with my children and develop into an artist that I am today and will become…

Website: http://meredithgillespie.com/

Instagram: @mgillespie_artist

Twitter: linkedin.com/in/amphillips

Facebook: @MeredithGillespieArt

Image Credits
Annette Goodman Photography