We were lucky to catch up with Patricia (Pati) Maguire recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Patricia (Pati) thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In one word: perseverance.

True success cannot be measured by what others think, but what makes YOUR life worth living.

For me, this is more than just one thing: the love of family and friends, the pursuit of a career as a painter and helping make our world a little better. None of these are usually achieved without hard work and a stubborn determination to keep going despite setbacks.

To reach your goals, you have to persevere.

My ultimate goal; my measure of success, is to wake up each day exited to go to work and happy to come home to my loved ones. By that measure, I have achieved success, even if I never sell another painting or win another award again (though that would be a bit disappointing, right?). When one of my paintings find a home with a collector, I feel I have shared a bit of myself.

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?

I saw my first Rembrandt self portrait as a child in Argentina, and I was mesmerized. This man spoke to me across centuries and continents, and I knew right then that I wanted to be a painter.

I have a natural ability with languages, and I was pushed by my family and high school guidance counselor to major in linguistics or literature.

We didn’t have much money for art supplies when I was growing up, and I am messy, so painting was not encouraged at home. My schools did not really have art departments. I sketched a lot, but did not have much of a chance to paint.

However, I was determined to study Art in college. I was pretty lousy compared to my fellow students. I graduated, but continued to be worse than mediocre.

Then I found enamels and began painting in a very impressionistic way with this ground glass, and painted every chance I got, even though I got married, moved overseas and was working full time for a large multinational company.

One day, I took several of my enamels and visited galleries that showed Impressionists. I had my first solo show in a gallery in Caracas, Venezuela, where half of paintings sold. I was encouraged, but I could not paint full time for a variety of reasons.

My career took a detour: we moved back to the USA.
I started a business in interior design, got an MBA at night and had 3 beautiful kids. But I painted and painted every chance I got. I never thought of it as a hobby. For me, it was a destination, though it often seemed far away.

Once my children were more independent I decided I had to find out if I truly had what it takes to become a full time artist. I took classes and workshops; went out painting en Plein Air with local groups, and slowly my work improved.

I stopped being afraid of making mistakes and started working with pastels, acrylics and ultimately fell in love with oil paints.

I never lost sight of becoming a full time artist, even though it took decades to get where I am. My big break came when I could finally afford to have a studio away from home. I started painting every day. I entered competitions and continued both taking classes and teaching.

I have had enough success with sales, awards and acceptance into prestigious shows to make me more determined to make consistently paintings that satisfy me. I say “satisfy me” because artists are often our own worst critics, and we get frustrated when our work looks differently from what we imagined when we started. Though I am honored when a respected judge or organization accepts my work or I earn an award, it is ultimately me I have to satisfy to keep going.

I am most proud of being able to balance a full time career with prioritizing my family life.

I have been fortunate in many ways, and also have found that giving back to my community by volunteering my time to local non profits has made my life richer in friends and knowledge as well.

I find that I paint because I have to.
It is in me.
It is my therapy and my release.
It is my way to express the emotions I feel by how I experience the world and events around me. Sometimes I paint beauty. Sometimes I paint sorrow. Sometimes I paint what I cannot say in words. I don’t aim to paint a pretty picture. My aim is to pour a bit of myself on canvas.
No matter how I feel, I paint… always, always….I paint.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

When I meet people and tell them I’m an artist/painter, the usual reaction from people who are not in a creative business is “how fun!” or “lucky you” or they think it’s glamourous.

There is a lot of work that is pure grind and hard physical work in making a career out of painting. There is prep work, and carrying equipment to and from painting locations, delivering artwork to galleries and shows, packing and mailing, sometimes very large canvases. There is framing and framing equipment. Endless clean up.
There are hours spent on the computer, finding places to exhibit your work, entering shows, applying to competitions, marketing yourself, posting on social media, keeping in touch with collectors, networking, supporting other artists.

I always say we are the factory, the inventory control, the research and development, the marketing and finance departments, quality control and the sales team all wrapped in one person. It is a lot of work. Sometimes we artists are chomping at the bit to go paint, but we must meet entry or delivery deadlines.

Yes, we love what we do, but it’s not all glamour, fun and opening receptions.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.patimaguire.com
• Instagram: @patimaguireart
• Facebook: patimaguire (or Patricia Maguire)

Image Credits
Patricia Maguire