We recently connected with Laura Mijangos and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, thanks for joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

Loss of husband and parents within a short time of each other and it’s affect on my art and life

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My father was an artist and he had many friends who were in the arts as well. So I grew up surrounded by all types of art—visual, music, dance, and written. But I always felt a bit intimidated by my fathers talent so when I went to college I pursued sculpture rather than painting as he had done. But after many twists and turns in life I eventually came to love painting after all. I’m most proud, or rather most grateful, to have this creative outlet which allows me the gift of expressing and processing the experiences of life.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As I said I decided to focus on sculpture in college but soon after graduating I married and we had a family shortly after so I put my art aside for many years. We had a pretty idyllic life until a series of events began to unravel our little bubble. In 2003, our oldest son contracted and amoeba in his eye, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and worst, my husband with pancreatic cancer. Thankfully my son and I were cured, my husband, unfortunately, was not. He lived for three years which we are so grateful for because the doctors had given him a prognosis of only 9 months. After his passing in 2006, my father passed away 9 months later and shortly after that, my mother as well. It was a devastating time to say the least. I had lost three of the most important people in my life besides my sons. And for their sake I couldn’t give in to the pain. In the time before their passing I had given myself the time to occasionally go and paint with my father. Still intimidated by his talent though, I never completed a painting. But after their deaths I found myself back in my fathers studio and began picking up each unfinished painting. Little by little the paint began to flow and before I knew it I had a series which led to my first exhibit at age 52. The title was “3”, inspired by my husband, my father and my mother, who were still with me, in another form perhaps, but still loving me and guiding me. Since then my work is still informed by my personal experiences and lessons I am leaning.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is self expression. It has brought me so much healing in immeasurable ways. As humans many of our experiences are universal. We all know joy and suffering to varying degrees. And my hope has always been that my story can speak to someone else’s story and that through my work they may find a little joy and hope and understanding. And maybe collectively we can lift each other up on this beautiful, but sometimes painful, journey we call life.

Contact Info:

• Website: lauramijangos.com
• Instagram: lauramijangos_art
• Facebook: Laura Mijangos-Rapp