We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Patty “Pato” Mcfarlane . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Patty “Pato” below.

Patty “Pato”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I hope my legacy will be that I not only that i create with joy but that I help others along the way. I hope that I will have used my gift to lift others up either financially or by teaching or working beside them, I want to empower women to keep going towards their dreams even if they start small like I did with a little box of stick figure greeting cards.

Patty “Pato”, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I originally grew up in Salem Oregon, met my husband there and raised our children there after our children grew up we moved to our Vacation home near Detroit Lake Oregon in the Cascade foothills, it was a lovely place to live , quiet and isolated. The population of our town was about 130 at that time. During my time there I knitted and created crafts to sell to the tourists and locals from the Three places that were available to me, I have always been creative but never settled on one thing. Meanwhile my husband was commuting an hour and 10 minutes each way to his job in the valley often through feet of snow and ice on one of the most dangerous highways in Oregon. We had been vacationing in Puerto Vallarta for many years and after a few years of my husband commuting we decided we could have a better quality of life in Mexico and spend more time together so we sold everything we owned and moved!
We lived in Puerto Vallarta for 6 Year’s and loved every minute of it becoming involved with a children’s food program ( basically I was a glorified lunch lady once a week) and of course my work with the comfort packs. My art got better, I was doing well in the markets and was learning all the time, I got a set of acrylic paints and taught myself how to paint on canvas. Naive style painting is very popular in Mexico so I was doing well. We thrived and made many friends and led a active life.
Then at the very beginning of the pandemic my Grandson was in a terrible accident, he ended up with a brain injury and was in a coma in the hospital in Washington State, we had always told ourselves we could get on a plane and be back in the states in 5&1/2 hours if there was ever a issue but at this time the Airports were closed and we couldn’t go back, that was a horrible helpless feeling and together we made the decision to move back to the states back to our five children and 13 grandkids.
Once again we sold everything we owned and were starting over, not a spoon or fork to furnish our home with but we were back in Oregon. That was about a year and a half ago and since then I have been working hard to find my place as a artist here in the northwest and still learning every time I put my brush on the canvas. Through my painting I have been able to discover a inner strength I didn’t know I had and I hope that my joy from that show’s in my artwork.
My Grandson aside from complete hearing loss in one ear has made a complete recovery and I hope to build my business here up so I can go back to what started it all…. helping kids

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think my resilience comes from the ability to start over, when we moved from Mexico I had literally nothing with the exception of my favorite watercolor paints and some paper but over time I was able to sell a few things, add to my studio, add to my supplies and get on my feet again, I have started doing markets and shows again ( still borrowing a canopy lol) but still plugging along I think moving forward towards a goal or dream is the thing that helps us learn and makes us stronger.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I think the most effective strategy for building my clientele has been repetition. Repetition on social media, repetition in being seen at shows and markets. When I came back to the states a year and a half ago I really had no idea about social media and ( don’t laugh) I had only owned a cell phone for a few months, I just had no need for one in Mexico and before that we had no cell service in our mountain home so I, at almost 60 had a lot to learn, with the help of my children and yes grandchildren I have learned a lot and have made it a practice to post daily on Instagram and my Facebook art page, this has helped a lot and I have met lots of fabulous people!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/pattyjomcfarlane
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artbypatttymcfarlane
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/pjsBodyandsoul

Image Credits
All photos by Patty Mcfarlane