Pat Apt, who has lived at lakeside for 26 years, has been an artist all her life. While living in Maine, her dream was to be a full-time artist, which she realized she could do in Mexico.
Turning 78 next month, Apt says that lakeside has been a perfect fit for her, a place she feels completely at home among the Mexican people.
“I’ve seen a lot of Mexico, and I love the Mexican landscapes,” said Apt. “I’ve journeyed through much of the country on my own and fall in love every time I travel throughout the villages and countryside. The Mexicans are my people. I belong here.”
Apt, who graduated from art school in 1975, used to tell herself that one day she would be living in Mexico and doing art here, even though she had never visited the country. “What attracted me to the Mexican culture was my introduction to Latin American, pre-Columbian art,” she says.
When she finally made the decision to take a car trip from Maine to Mexico, with the goal of landing in San Miguel de Allende, Apt got lost along the way, ended up at Lakeside, and never left.
“I’ve tried living in different areas of Mexico three times but kept returning to Lakeside. This area has everything I need. The only thing I miss is the ocean, so I make the drive to the coast, get my ocean fill and am satisfied.”
Apt is a member of the Lake Chapala Painting Guild and exhibits in their shows, such as the one currently up in La Manzanilla, which runs through April.
“What’s most important to me is my gallery, Conejo en la Luna (Rabbit in the Moon), which is both my workspace and where I get to exhibit.” (Apt will host an exhibition at Conejo en la Luna on Friday, December 21 – see below.)
What makes Apt’s art so special is that she creates linoleum block prints using up to ten colors, which is unique for Lakeside. She creates original prints, all made by hand, so that each one is different from the other.
“Since I’m mainly a printmaker, I create block prints and etchings,” she says. “Although I also paint mostly metaphorical paintings, I consider my most important pieces to be my prints.”
Apt feels her inspiration for her paintings is based on relationships between the mountains and the lake, between people and the landscape – even how one color relates to another. “I may say, look at that pink color, look at that yellow color; I wonder what they’d do together.”
All of Apt’s landscapes are done on location, or plein air — places around Lake Chapala where she sets up her easel to create sketches and paintings, before returning to her studio to make block prints. Finally, she transfers them onto linoleum.
For Apt, art is expression. “If I’m going to say something, I want my art to mean something, not just be a pretty picture.”
Much of the meaning behind her art tends to be politically driven.
“During my time traveling through the U.S., I witnessed many homeless people living in such a wealthy country. Homelessness became a significant subject for me, and I was driven to create large scale, political-themed prints. Many of these prints have been shown in venues throughout Mexico, as well as in Maine and New Hampshire.”
Apt is also known for her anti-war prints.
“In the 1960s I was raising a flock of kids. In the 1980s, although I was busy protesting war, my main form of protest was my art. As an example, I created a block print depicting fallen human beings the day Vietnam fell, in 1975. I feel strongly that the devastation that results from war impacts everyone who participates in it, even the innocent bystanders.”
Apt’s interest in homelessness turned her attention to the current immigration issues at the Mexican-U.S. border. “My hand was literally shaking as I created a block print of children in cages. I think, if only the U.S. would treat the Latin Americans the same way the Mexican people treat the expats here at Lakeside — with decency.”
She continues: “I do art for the love of art, not for the money. I never choose my subject matter with money in mind. If someone buys something I’ve created, that’s great. I enjoy sharing my art with people and feel good knowing that my prints or paintings hang on their walls.”
Pat Apt’s exhibition at Conejo en la Luna can be seen on December 21, from 3 to 6 p.m. The exhibit will remain up for three to four weeks. Address: C. Ramon Corona 5A, Ajijic, across from Tabarka Restaurant. For information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">.