Maru Vázquez: Painting With Passion, Living With Purpose

By Aundria McMillan Humphrey

Maru Vázquez, with seven international awards, doesn’t just paint; she radiates art and lives it. It’s who she is, and she shares it generously, like it’s second nature.

With over five decades of painting behind her, Maru’s recent 50^th anniversary exhibition at the Querétaro Art Museum was more than a milestone—it was a celebration of a life steeped in emotion, adventure, and relentless creativity. Asked how her voice/art has changed over the years, she said, “You get stronger, sure of yourself. You get more real about what you want to talk about. I’ve always wanted to talk about my emotions, my feelings, my relationships with people, and my surroundings. I put all the inferences I get from these things on my canvases.” Her canvases are not just visual, they’re visceral. They speak of relationships, surroundings, sorrow, adrenaline, and joy. Maru paints what “shakes” her soul, and her upcoming collection, Your Soul Belongs to Whoever Shakes It, is a tribute to those deep emotional connections that transcend intimate relationships and reach into the marrow of human experience.

A Red Moon and aNew Beginning

In 2020, Maru arrived in San Miguel de Allende just as the city was shutting down due to COVID-19. The red moon that greeted her became a symbol of transformation, inspiring a series of paintings that now hang with quiet power. Leaving behind the chaos of México City, she found peace—and a new rhythm—in San Miguel. “Adventure has always been a constant,” she says. “New places, new people, new emotions… it makes me super high, and then I want to express that.” Even sorrow becomes regal in her hands. A cousin once told her, “When you’re sad, you paint like a queen.” Maru agrees: “I think that’s when I can paint more powerfully.”

The Art of Letting Go— and Holding On

Maru rarely titles her pieces. She wants viewers to find their own meaning, to have their own conversations with the work.

“I don’t want to take people by the hand and walk them down the path I’ve walked. I want them to find their own conversation with each and every piece." One of her most cherished pieces was a profound work of love created in the wake of her father’s death. When a woman insisted on buying that painting, not for sale, she replied, ¨The price is the price of the love of your children.” The woman quietly apologized and put away her checkbook.

Building Legacy, Lifting Women

Maru’s impact extends far beyond her own work. With the support of TELMEX she launched the Women in Art Initiative—now international in scope. She’s mentored over 180 career women artists, finding spaces for them to exhibit and grow. “I will mentor other artists all my life,” she says. At her 50^th anniversary show, a follow-up event titled “Come Have a Chat With…” drew over 120 attendees—mostly young people eager to learn how she obtained her status in the art world. Maru, ever humble, told them: “I don’t know about status… I’m just an artist.”

Art as a Mirror, Art as a Cure

She believes art is a private language that artists offer to the world, reflecting our time, our chaos, our healing.

“We are the prophets of our times,” she says. “And we put that into canvases, music, sculptures… and show the world what’s happening to us.” She believes artists can transform pain into beauty—and that art can change the world.

A Life in Color

Maru paints because it’s her way of living, of thinking, of appreciating the world. When she gives a painting, she hopes people remember not just the painting, but her essence; that she’s true, and a good, loyal person who walks her talk. She wants people to remember that when you buy art, you're investing in a piece of someone's life—time, emotion, and creativity. It's not just an object; it's a lasting, meaningful asset. “What’s next?” I asked. “Most important to me now is my legacy, as a woman, as a person. My legacy is what I do and who I am with people and through people.” Maru dreams of a book—not a biography, but a collection of stories about her failures, her triumphs, and how she learned to navigate life. “Anyone can paint, or write, or dance,” she says. “But not everyone is an artist because being an artist is a way of living.”

Aundria McMillan Humphrey, Founder, Kickbutt Ageless Living

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