Secret Lives: Artist in Residence

Secret Lives is an ongoing series that shares the unusual past careers and unique hobbies of OhioHealth associates, physicians, and volunteers. 

Seth Charlton, BSN, RN, is an administrative nurse manager at the OhioHealth Pickerington Medical Campus Emergency Care Center. He also enjoys drawing caricatures.

Seth’s interest in drawing began as a boy when he learned to use pictures to communicate. His grandfather lived on a farm, and although he couldn’t write well, he was excellent at using drawings to tell Seth about his daily life.

In high school, Seth excelled at art. While studying at the Washington Hospital School of Nursing, Seth realized he could use his drawing skills for extra income. He began to draw caricatures of people at local fairs and the mall.

“It was recreational for me,” he says. “It also gave people a different perspective of themselves, and you could see the real enjoyment they got out of it.”

Today, Seth uses his skills to help patients, particularly children and the elderly. He’ll draw pictures of procedures to help them better understand what’s going on. 

“When you physically draw it out and they see it, you can see that they really understand,” he says. “It kind of speaks in a different language.”

This story was originally published in the November/December 2015 issue of UpFront, an OhioHealth associate publication.