Artist in the Spotlight: Mariposa Marangia

Mariposa Marangia joined the LAC Coop recently, and I had the pleasure of spending a day in training with her.  Involved in so many things: art, theatre, teaching at the university level, I thought she would make a very interesting subject for an Artist in the Spotlight article.  Thank you Mariposa for completing my questionnaire -- I am posting it here in its entirety.
 

1.How did you get started in creating art?

Since childhood, I have always liked to create art. Colors fascinated me.
One of my earliest memories is being kindergarten, and carefully considering the crayon colors I would apply to a coloring book image of an easer bunny and a basket of eggs. Shades of yellow, violet, and pink and green working together inspired me as I colored the image.

In early elementary school, I would create drawings of women’s fashion on index cards, color the outfits with colored pencils or crayon. I loved the boxes of Crayola Crayons with the assortment of colors and shades. I would ponder the difference between a blue-green and a green-blue; taupe and beige, and red and orange.

Life and education took over, putting my visual arts inclinations on the backburner.
Now and then, I would explore photography and ceramics. I enjoyed them, but I did not persist. There was a time, after my career was in full gear, that I took to painting in oils, but that was short-lived as life circumstances changed for me. Something always seemed to interrupt attempts to pick up where I left off in my art creating life. In the last year or so, the call of the arts has been hard to ignore.



2.What is your favorite medium and why?

Watercolor attracts me. I like the fluidity and transparency of the medium.  The challenge is to create an image that is clean, vibrant, and expressive.



3.What are your favorite subjects?

Favorite subjects vary considerably. I like to paint flowers, still life, figures, landscapes and cityscapes. Painting cats interest me at the moment because their gestures are captivating and their facial expressions are penetrating.


4.Do you have a vision for your work?  For a body of work that you would like to create?

I am striving to produce a body of watercolor paintings that are loose, clean, and expressive of my feelings for a subject. For me, painting is personal -- a way to express something about a subject that words cannot. If I can evoke a similar feeling from a viewer, my work comes alive in a broader sense.


5.How did you find out about the Lakewood Arts Council and Co-op?  What do you find most enjoyable or beneficial about being a member?

I have known about the Lakewood Arts Council and Co-op for half a decade or more. But the old location did not work very well for me. As a resident of Wheat Ridge, the Lamar Station location is convenient.

Membership in the Co-op brings opportunities to learn what fellow co-op artists are creating. Learning from others is a big draw to a co-op. There is so much to share about styles of art making, subject mater, materials, and showing. It is an all around educational experience and a good-fit community.


6.What’s next on the horizon?

“Next on the horizon” means delving deeper into the medium. I have much to learn about handling the tools of watercolor. The qualities of paint, paper, water saturation, and handling of brushes are diverse, and will keep me studying for a lifetime.