Date of event: July 14, 2012, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Paralyzed from the neck down, Carlos Vargas is a painter. He secures the brush using a customized rod with a mouthpiece at one end and a brush at the other.

“Painting is a good distraction,” says Carlos. “I forget all my problems. When I’m feeling bad, and I know it’s not my day, I start to paint. When I finish, the stress goes down, and my mind is clear.”

In November 2000, a gang fight in the Mission District in San Francisco ended in gunfire. Carlos suffered four shots, including one to his neck.

While recovering at St. Luke’s hospital in San Francisco, Carlos discovered painting. Sometimes concentrating so hard can be exhausting and he is often drenched in perspiration, yet he finds peace in producing his art. Using short and choppy strokes. it may take an entire day to complete an 8 1/2 x 11 watercolor.

Carlos’ works include still lifes, landscapes, animals and traditional Mexican settings, images rarely seen outside the sixth floor of the hospital.