LAFAYETTE, La. — For local artist Patsy Padilla, the vibrant colors of her homeland, Honduras, serve as the cornerstone of her creative expression. Her paintings, bursting with lively hues, reflect her desire to spread happiness and positivity.

“I want people to feel happy. I want the people to feel that they want to be in that place,” Padilla said.

Padilla’s love for color stands in contrast to her father, who preferred drawing in black and white. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh, if I get that same thing like my dad, same artistic thing, I would put color in it," she said.

That decision has become Padilla’s trademark. “I do like colors. That's when my happiness comes and my paintings reflect a lot of those colors,” she said.

Her artwork not only evokes the vivid scenes of her childhood in H

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