Painting colorful cats as therapy at 81 years old

Cats, cats and more cats. TO Marisa Palmero He likes to paint cats. She has been doing it for years, it motivates him, entertains him and helps him feel better. What she started as a way to clear her mind when her husband fell ill has become her greatest hobby and has led her, years later, to star in an exhibition with more than 30 paintings.

Marisa Palmero is 81 years old, she lives in Valencia and paints in some courses at Carmen Alborch Cultural Center of Mislata. She goes several times a week and likes to spend time with her classmates. She has been painting paintings for a decade, and now she exhibits them in the Dona Library, next to the Serrans Towers in Valencia.

«My husband spent new years with Alzheimer’s, it is hard to be with a sick person day and night, and my daughters and my son encouraged me to do something. I always liked drawing and painting, but I had ‘put it on hold’ and I signed up and it went well, it has helped me recover, to get out of the rut,” she admits.

But why cats? For his daughter Mª Luisa Sierra, who is an expert in Animal Law and is part of various animal welfare entities as a legal advisor, as well as a trainer and collaborator with animal welfare and protection entities.

He began accompanying her to solidarity events and painting pictures to display at these events and little by little he met women who are dedicated to feeding stray cats and taking care of the colonies. This is how Fresita and Nali, two kittens who live with her, came into her life.

«I also paint other things, but always cats, I love cats. Of all kinds, like those painted by Klimt, with a Van Gogh background, that I see anywhere… I don’t copy, I get inspired, and always in colors, in many colors.», he says about his style. “I don’t like soft and relaxing ones, I always wear bright colors because it cheers me up and gives me a feeling of joy,” she says. “I always have new cats to paint and in the end, after so many years, they turn out well,” says Palmero.

Until june 7th

Now in the Donut Library It has 31 paintings on display until June 7. By having her kittens and creating an emotional bond with them—especially with Nali, who was mistreated in another home—she has become even more involved with the situation of street cats and their feeders, and in raising awareness about the situation of these animals. «It is a very important job for caregivers.

They feed them, take them to the vet… they do great social work,” says the painter, who also encourages adoption. «They do not cause problems nor are they surly nor as independent as they say. “My two kittens are behind me all day, always around me and keep me company,” Explain.

Although it is not the objective of the exhibition, she assures that at the inauguration many people were interested in acquiring one of the paintings and she is also open to placing orders. It is her first individual exhibition, although she does have one with her classmates at the end of the year.