Art can draw people closer, even when they’re apart

Luisa Leon knew it was difficult to make money as an artist.

When she quit her job in 2018 to paint, she turned her art into a service: face painting, murals and teaching classes.

“It became bigger than just brush strokes,” Leon said. “It became a way of bringing art to people’s lives.”

The pandemic put a stop to all that. “I felt my world basically just collapsing as many of us did,” Leon said.

She had named her business AzLotus Art because the lotus is resilient, growing in mud and persistently flowering. So would she.

Luisa was born in Mexico City and moved to Phoenix in 2001 at age 13. She learned English, graduated from Camelback High with honors and attended Arizona State University on scholarship.

She’s raising her daughter, Mariely, who’s 7.

In mid-March, Leon posted on Instagram that she would teach painting, for free. It would connect her to the outside.

That first night, Leon taught 40 people to paint a rose. She promised to teach 100 nights in a row.

“People were missing stability and routine,” Leon said.

The class grew, up to 200 some nights, from across the country, Puerto Rico, Canada and India. They painted butterflies, coffee cups and pineapples. Leon has only two rules.

First, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Worrying about perfection curbs creativity.

Second, don’t compare your work to others. A painting is like a page from a diary, a slice of who you are, in that moment.

“What you are creating today, love it because that is you,” Leon said.

Her students posted pictures of their paintings. They created a community.

“It’s very fulfilling for me to see that art has the power I believe it does,” Leon said.