W
hen the painting wouldn’t fit inside her micro-bus she borrowed
her boss’s truck and took it. She is an incredible woman and over the
years has bought three more of my paintings.
A few months ago I saw her at the Bainbridge Museum. She is 93;
she had a big beautiful smile on her face, and I went over to talk to
her. Her son was there and told me, “She has Alzheimer’s but she
remembers you.” Then three weeks ago her grandson called and told
me “My grandma doesn’t remember who I am, or who her son is. She
doesn’t remember anything but your paintings. She talks about them
all the time.” It’s the magic of art, you know. It can be so powerful and
it gets into your soul. So these are the things that really inspire me.
M.J.: With all your success, how do you stay so grounded?
Arreguin: I’ve done very well and in order to give back, I donate my
work to various causes. That makes me feel really good. I’ve been
donating paintings for 20 years to raise money for scholarships at the
University of Washington. They even named a scholarship after me.
When I go to the awards breakfast the kids come over and hug me and
that’s a really good way to stay grounded. Because when you only pay
attention to yourself then you’re full of worries and insecurity. But I
feel really good about having all this inner peace to do my work.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE