September 1st, 2010
photography by Les Dozsa (click on his name to see more of his great photos)
How do you get yourself into the mood to paint, or cook, or write, or whatever your craft is?
I’d like to tell you about how my day at the Renton Art and Antique fair went.
I was one of about 70 artists and crafts-persons invited to sit outside of downtown businesses all day last Saturday in Renton, Washington to display my wares. If I was lucky, someone would buy something. (and I was lucky, I sold two original paintings) But honestly I was not in the mood. It’s true. I was bone tired from lack of sleep, and it was cold out. Really, it was, we’ve had a very cold summer. I was wearing a hat and a scarf and a jacket, we were on the shady side of the street. But It is rare for me to find opportunities to “meet the public” so I did my best to play the part of a gracious artist. I had my tables set up next to Seana, one of my artist friends. Seana is wonderful; she engages everyone easily, and not only sells herself and gets commissions, but she also sells me. Effortlessly. And I knew for a fact that Seana didn’t feel so hot either.
I did not feel like painting, but I know that if I always waited for inspiration, I would probably not be at that fair. An artist doesn’t just exist, an artist creates. And the act of creation requires energy and commitment. Right about that time, as I was wrestling with myself, a little boy walked up to me. I am not sure how old he was, but I saw no parents nearby, so I assume he was at least 11 years old.
He looked at my stuff and looked me in the eye and said:
“I am an artist. Can you tell me if you draw an outline before you paint, or do you just apply paint to blank paper?”
I was delighted and astonished. Someone wanted to talk to me about painting! And that someone happened to be a cute little kid. We talked for a while, he wanted to know how long I had been painting; I told him 4 years. His eyes got big, but I added;
“But I have been drawing all my life.”
and his response: “Me too!” I told him good luck and keep drawing. There he was, not yet an adult, but confident, open, engaging. What is an artist? That boy is certainly one. And so am I. I started to paint.
Is there anything that helps you get started? Tell me, I love to hear from you.
Posted in biographical, painting | 2 Comments »
August 30th, 2010
Still freshly smitten from visiting Maine with the Farnsworth Museum full of Andrew Wyeth’s sketches and paintings, and the Olson house, where he painted over 300 paintings, I decided I should take some of Andy’s unspoken advice and study my subjects a little more. For some reason I wanted to study crows.
In real life, the green painting is more yellow —- The blue painting is done on blue paper
It appears that the yellow background of the last painting has been muted by my scanner..
Crows are ubiquitous wildlife in Seattle. They are noisy, they are devious, smart, and really wild. They are iconic. The Inuit tribe believed that it was crow who brought the daylight back to them after the long dark winter.
But I digress. I wanted to use the crow to enhance the mood of my paintings, so study them I did. I tried to entice them to approach me with offerings of food. Nothing doing. They waited until I walked away, then they’d strafe the ground, pick up all the food faster than I could turn around and take two steps towards them! As you can see, I did benefit from their presence however. Although each of these paintings needs a home, they are also studies for perhaps some more profound painting that I have not yet realized.
Stay tuned, I’m going to have a contest..
Of course you know I always like to hear from you so feel free to comment. Which of these paintings is your favorite?
Posted in acquarello, art, crows | 7 Comments »
August 26th, 2010
Come join us for the 5th 2010 Renton Art and Antique Walk on Saturday, August 28 from 11:00am to 6:00pm. Over 70 artists will take part in this year’s event along S. 3rd Street in Downtown Renton. In addition to artist, we will have an animal petting area and a robotics display. For more details about Arts Unlimited or the Art Walk, please visit our information booth on the corner of S. 3rd and Burnett Ave S.
Your friend, artist Mimi Torchia Boothby will be showing some of her paintings right in front of the Renton Coin Shop at 225 Wells Avenue South right in downtown Renton.
She will be there surrounded by her paintings and probably actually painting rain or shine. Right next door will
be Seana Jordan who does animal portraits in acrylic using bold & beautiful colors. So hop into your car or bicycle and come on down and see us.
We’re looking forward to seeing you.
Posted in portrait | 2 Comments »
August 24th, 2010
My husband and I went to Maine last week to attend the Boothby family’s 100th reunion. We stayed in Cornish, Maine, a tiny township in what they call southern Maine. The reunion was in the next town over, called Limington.
To keep the character of Cornish Township authentic, they have some zoning laws that prevent new-style buildings
from being built in the center of town. The center of town was only about 3 blocks long so there was a lot of room to build anything else out further down the road, including hardware stores and a restaurant called “Phat Boys”. (and yes, they were!)
We were particularly impressed with this antique store, the loving detail that showed in the way it was constructed, finished and then cared for. We bought a Pennsylvania Barn Star there, you can just barely see them on each side of the entrance of the building.
We stayed at a place called the Cornish Inn. It’s the building on the right with the red roof. In the center house, I saw a tiny elderly lady come out and check her mail. I loved her pink door which nicely offset the copper (green) roof and white house. I did not finish this little painting because it began to rain. A “rare” Summer Northeaster blew in, and eventually it poured.
As for the Boothbys, one of the first houses built in the are belonged to a Boothby but it burned down many years ago. The street is still named Boothby road.
Painting “Plein Aire” means I was outside with my little pad sketching and painting.
Posted in acquarello, art, historic, landscapes, painting, travel journal | 2 Comments »
August 19th, 2010
Once upon a time a little girl was born who loved cats. She loved not only cats, but stories about cats and books about cats. She also started drawing cats when she was 3 years old.
As soon as she was able, she made sure that cats were always in her life and of course she learned to take care of them. Her best friend in the world was a cat for most of her childhood. Today, she’s fostered cats, rescued cats and supported cat rescue associations, often by donations of paintings of cats. She even managed to raise two wild rambunctious sons with perfect cat taming and handling skills. I know, enough about cats. But I figured someone might want to know what the story was behind the name Mimitabby.
And onto tabbies. Tabbies are cats with stripes or spots, one of the most common markings found on felis domesticus. While I’m at it, there is also a word in Italian that describes exactly a dark tabby cat. That word is soriano. I’ll bet you’re glad you know that now.
Models for these paintings include Aggie, Barbie, Nutmeg and Enza (oh, and Mimi). Featured here either in personality or actual portraits are many of the cats that I had the pleasure of sharing my life with in the past. While I was painting these cats I had several of them posing for me, purring at me, watching me, and letting me know it was time to feed them. Special thanks to Arabella for giving me the idea for this painting.
Posted in acquarello, art, cats, portrait, watercolors, watercolours | 9 Comments »
August 13th, 2010
She’s back, yes, I had to paint the lady in green again. Why? I am not sure I can answer that. Why is one woman at a party sad and conflicted? Was someone cruel to her? Was she threatened? Will she be in trouble when she gets home? What is clouding the brow of this lovely young face? Did she ever tell anyone? The mystery of this woman’s face really haunts me. Somehow, I feel like I am getting closer to expressing her pain and sharing it with you. This time I gave her hair a more modern appearance. I hope no one minds.
Posted in acquarello, art, painting, portrait, watercolors, watercolours | 8 Comments »
August 7th, 2010
My roving photographer Donald Boothby works downtown where it is easy to encounter fellow businessmen, tourists and homeless people. The curious juxtaposition of this Duck boat filled with smiling tourists looking unseeing across this little plaza where a woman is warming herself in the sun really struck me.
Posted in acquarello, art, landscapes, portrait, watercolors, watercolours | 4 Comments »
July 30th, 2010
With so much going wrong these days in the world, the state, the city, a small thing going right is our local Georgetown Farmer’s Market. It is in its infancy, its very first season, and lots of new merchants and farmers are setting up their stalls and trying their luck at open market each Saturday from 10 until 3. I have been delighted with some of the new vendors, we had Indian food featuring fresh Naan, Argentinian Empanadas, Vegan chocolate cake, a northern Italian selling pasta made from chestnuts, a southern Italian selling eggplant casserole, and lots of organic farms selling gorgeous fruits and vegetables. Some of them seem to have already given up on our small market, I haven’t seen them come back after the first few Saturdays. So it seems I have a huge emotional investment in this market succeeding. This past Saturday, there was a cookie seller. And the woman who ran the booth called herself “The Cookie Lady.” There she was, the kind of woman who clearly could do anything if she wanted, surrounded by all kinds of wonderful concoctions – her creations. We asked for samples. Each tidbit we sampled we ended up buying a batch. Her stuff was good. She was sassy and confident. We’ll be back! (I hope she comes back too) This is a watercolor on 9 x12″ arches paper and it is for sale. Photo reference by Donald Boothby.
Posted in acquarello, art, painting, portrait, watercolors, watercolours | 14 Comments »
July 28th, 2010
From the number of dilapidated huge barns that we see on our bike rides, western Washington state used to be a big dairy producer. Every one of these barns shows pride, industry and independence to me. Some of them are unique.
This is another painting based on my husband’s collection of photographs. We rode by this barn on our tandem and had to stop to gaze at it. I confess that it is actually more decrepit in person than it appears here.
Posted in acquarello, art, historic, landscapes, painting, watercolors, watercolours | 7 Comments »
July 27th, 2010
Bicycling is one of our hobbies, we cover a lot of miles on country roads at a leisurely pace. Unlike traveling in a car, we are exposed to the elements, the smells and the sights that you might miss at high speed. On a bike it is easy to stop to pick some flowers, or feed grass to a friendly horse. Near Winthrop, Washington, we found this cabin in a field. It was important to take a photo of it, because we knew that it would eventually collapse. Many of the barns and buildings that my husband has captured with his camera are now gone. The reference for this one was one of his photos.
Posted in acquarello, art, historic, landscapes, watercolors, watercolours | 7 Comments »
