It's Been A While!

It's been a while since I've blogged. And I'm looking forward to updating it. Lots has happened. Babies, art, life, etc. Lots of new paintings will be posted next! And I'm on Instagram, which has been fun- not only to show my work, but to look at all the beautiful art on it! I'm lamujomac_art, if anyone wants to check it out! And let me know that you're there, so I can follow you.
I'm SO high tech, yes that's me!




But for now, I would like to talk about a dear friend of mine. Her name is Patricia Riascos. She is an amazing artist and friend. I just happened to walk upstairs to an art exhibit here in Rochester one day. I fell in love with her work. The colors, the character, the abstract nature of it that tells a story with every piece. I had no idea who she was, or where she was from, or anything. Except that I loved her work. I wrote an email to her, expressing how much I appreciated and enjoyed seeing her art. Lo and behold, she emailed me back, and a friendship was born. It turns out she lives 5 minutes from me! Talk about something being meant to be! We have spent time over the last several years laughing, painting, and just being in each others company. Her life has been amazing- she came to this country from Colombia, South America, when she was in her 20s- alone. She navigated a whole new country, learned the language, found employment, supported herself, went to college, married, had a beautiful daughter, made LOTS of friends, painted, and made a life for herself. And all this despite lifelong health problems that she has dealt with, but always triumphed over. When I met her, she was struggling with dropfoot and other things, and was using a cane then a walker. Little by little, her symptoms became diffuse and exacerbated. After many, many tests and doctor visits, she was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrigs disease. Since then she has continued painting, (although she is recently having to give it up), and she has had lots of success with sales of her work. She writes a newsletter, corresponds with people all over the country as well as her friends and family back home and in Canada. A beautiful article about her has been published in American Lifestyle Magazine. To read her interview, go to https://americanlifestylemag.com/discover/arts/the-language-of-art/.
Her website is https://patriciariascosart.com/.
And another really cool thing is that she has just published a book! And I can't recommend it highly enough!
She talks about her life, in a diary format, and I read it in an afternoon. I laughed and I cried. It is SO inspirational. It is honest, open, and is just real life. Her joys and her sorrows are all out there for the world to see. It's 160 pages and includes TWENTY of her beautiful and colorful paintings! You can find it on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. Half of the proceeds go to ALS. She is happy to know that her book will inspire so many people. If you would like to read her book,  it's called "The Infinite Patience of Time".
Pat continues to live as full a life as possible, despite her many limitations. Being in her presence is truly a gift. She is truly a remarkable human being and I am so lucky our paths crossed.....