caption death_date birth_place known_for image article_title occupation
pablo held in the brazilian amazo amaringo during a 2002 ayahuasca healing retreat , 16 november 2009 puerto libertad , ucayali , perú '' peruvian shaman '' ayahuasca visions : the religious iconography of a hanna jon 2002 amaringo pablo.jpg pablo amaringo
 painter
pablo amaringo

pablo cesar amaringo -lrb- 1938 -- 16 november 2009 -rrb- was an acclaimed peruvian artist , renowned for his intricate , colourful depictions of his visions from drinking the entheogenic plant brew ayahuasca .
he was first brought to the west 's attention by dennis mckenna and luis eduardo luna , who met pablo in pucallpa while traveling during work on an ethnobotanical project .
pablo worked as a vegetalista , a shaman in the mestizo tradition of healing , for many years ; up to his death , he painted , helped run the usko-ayar school of painting , and supervised ayahuasca retreats .
amaringo was born the seventh of thirteen children in 1943 in puerto libertad , a small settlement on the banks of a tributary of the ucayali river .
when amaringo was a boy , his family were reduced to extreme poverty after some years of relative prosperity .
as a result , they moved to pucallpa where amaringo attended school for just two years before he was forced to find work to help support the family .
when he was 17 amaringo became extremely ill , nearly dying from severe heart problems .
for over two years he could not work .
he believes he was eventually cured due to a local healer .
it was while recovering from this illness that he started to draw and paint for the first time .
amaringo began making drawings with pencil and shading with soot from lamps .
from a friend employed in a car factory he got permatex , a blue substance with which he coloured the drawings .
he had no money for paper so he used cardboard boxes .
sometimes he took a little lipstick and other cosmetics from his sisters .
later he used ink , watercolours and then a friend gave him six tubes of oil paint .
soon amaringo began to make money from portraits , but lost his market when photographers began to colour black-and-white prints .
with the discovery of his new artistic talent amaringo 's career as a healer also received exposure .
for seven years , 1970 -- 76 , he travelled extensively in the region acting as a traditional healer .
when luna and mckenna met amaringo in 1985 he was living in poverty , barely surviving by teaching english to young people from his home and selling the odd painting to passing tourists .
luna suggested he paint some of his visions , a project which became the basis of a co-authored book , `` ayahuasca visions : the religious iconography of a peruvian shaman '' -lrb- north atlantic books 1999 -rrb- .
amaringo occasionally gave interviews in the years following the book 's publication , and later penned the preface for `` plant spirit shamanism : traditional techniques for healing the soul '' -lrb- destiny books 2006 -rrb- .
he also appeared in `` the shaman & ayahuasca : journeys to sacred realms '' -lrb- 2010 -rrb- , michael wiese 's documentary film about ayahuasca .
after a protracted illness , amaringo died on 16 november 2009 .
