Margarita IBARRA FLORES

Short Biography

I was born on December 2, 1956, in San Marcos Evangelista, Jalisco, Mexico. I´ve lived in Guadalajara since I was almost one year old, and I learned to love this land.

When I turned 29, I was diagnosed with rhematoid arthritis. One day I felt very tired and, after working a few hours, I decided to rest in one morning. When I tried getting out of bed, it became a big feat.  I thought then that my dreams had ended.

First I felt a pain in my wrist, then my whole body felt numb. The floor seemed like a magnet and I couldn´t separate my feet from it. The sickness had affected me from my neck to the fingers of my feet, since it is a progressive degenerative polyarticular condition.

Having arthritis has helped me to value everything in life.  I know that life is wonderful and it is a miracle that people can walk or lift heavy objects.  Once I could also do this and it felt very normal.

The following year of my disability I started painting and studying painting, thanks to a teacher and some friends y neighbors that would take me to class in their vehicle. I always had a curiosity about painting since I was a young girl.

Some seminarians took me to meet Mr. José Moreno, a mouth painter, who gave me lots of advice and shared with me some of his “secrets” about his work so I could apply them, and I did.

Even though my sickness advanced to the brain, which prevented me from painting for some time, I now paint with all my heart.

I currently live with my mother who is blind.  She fills me with fortitude when I see how she has been able to overcome her disability.  Thanks to my mom who is my complement and I am hers, we live constantly supporting each other.

Thanks to the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of which I am a part of since 2006. Thanks for the opportunity to develop myself as an artist.