MFPA Canada

☀️ MONDAY — GOOD NEWS MONDAY: The 13th General Assembly

— starting the week with a moment we're still thinking about.
From April 12-17, MFPA artists from around the world gathered in London for the 13th General Assembly of our international association — a week that marked our 70th anniversary as a cooperative.
The week brought together members from across the 71 countries where MFPA artists work today. There was a festive gala at the historic Guildhall. There was the opening of the "Defying Limits, Defining Art" exhibition at the Lindley Hall in Westminster, featuring over 120 original works by artists from more than 33 countries. There was the special visit of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, who came to see the exhibition and spend time with our artists.
Seventy years ago, eight artists in Liechtenstein founded this cooperative because no one else would treat them as professional artists. Today, 720 of us in 71 countries continue that work — together. The Assembly in London was, in a sense, all of those artists being in the same room at the same time. Some met for the first time. Some had known each other for decades. All of them were part of something bigger than any single career.
Stay with us tomorrow — we'll have more to share about one of the significant moments from this Assembly.
Here's to the next chapter. 💛
💬 If you've ever owned an MFPA card, calendar, or print, you're part of this story too. We'd love to know which artist's work hangs in your space.

This week's Feature Friday: Cesar Barcia

César is an MFPA artist from Argentina, based in Capilla del Señor with his partner Andrea. He paints with his mouth, primarily in watercolor, and has been part of our cooperative since 2010, becoming an Associate member in 2025.
He came to painting the way many MFPA artists do — through an accident that changed everything. At 15, on his bicycle, he had what he calls "a stupid fall, badly placed on the spine," which fractured his cervical vertebrae and left him without movement below his shoulders. He spent his teenage years in rehabilitation in Buenos Aires, far from his home in San Rafael, Mendoza. He had never painted before. Art wasn't part of his story.
Years later, a fellow MFPA artist named Sergio Peña — who had a very similar injury — visited César and showed him how he painted with his mouth. César was curious. He went home and tried it.
"I discovered my passion. It changed my life completely," he says.
The watercolor pictured here is one of his recent pieces. César chose watercolor as his medium deliberately, after working through oil, acrylic, ink, and pencil. In a recent radio interview, he explained why:
"I love its spontaneity. The plasticity. The chaos you sometimes have to manage with the moisture of the page. Water carrying pigment. Part artist, part accident, part gravity."
He paints from his home, where Andrea — who has been his partner since before the accident, who he knew first as a schoolmate in San Rafael — prepares his materials each morning. The brushes. The paper. The watercolors laid out. The setup that makes the work possible. César holds the brush between his teeth; his head moves while the brush stays fixed.
"Everything I do, I need help with," he has said. "But the painting itself — that's mine."
What we keep returning to, the more we sit with César's words, is something he said about the language people use around his life:
"People would tell me 'how difficult.' I'd say no — not difficult. Challenging. The challenge we have day to day. And in that challenge, you can find something wonderful."
This painting is one of those wonderful things.
Painting by César Barcia. Watercolor, mouth-painted. 💛
(Quotes translated from a 2025 radio interview with Radio Cromo Escobar.)
💬 Leave a comment for César below. We pass every message along.

Wisdom Wednesday 🎨

Why does watercolor look like light?

It's considered one of the hardest mediums to master — and one of the most alive when it works. The reason comes down to one thing: you can't really undo it.
Unlike oil or acrylic, watercolor doesn't forgive second-guessing. The first mark is largely the final mark. That forces the artist to plan — to commit to every brushstroke before it lands. Water carries pigment across the page in ways that can't be fully controlled, creating soft edges and blooms that feel less like decisions and more like weather.
That's why watercolor feels alive. It's part artist, part accident, part gravity.
Many of our MFPA artists work in watercolor, and watching the medium in their hands — or rather, in their mouth or foot — is a reminder that what looks effortless has usually been earned through thousands of attempts.
Featured artwork: Margaritas by Cesar Barcia
💬 Have you ever tried watercolor? What was that first mark like?