Watercolors by Mimi Torchia Boothby

Aggie was born wild. When I got her she was a shy little kitten with ringworm. Needless to say, she is now in charge of the entire house (except when we have guests, then she becomes a bit more retiring). Here she is catching a sunbeam on a red leather chair. This is an 8″x10″ painting that will be donated to the Colors of Compassion art show and festival which will be at the Blowing Sands Gallery in Ballard and is being done to raise money for the feral cat spay/neuter project. The top painting is my second try. I like it better (and it will fit a standard mat which is important when you don’t have time to get a custom frame)

This is a 1/4 sheet painting of a couple who were part of the crowd at the 2008 NW Folklife festival. I found her face intriguing and his a little unsettling. Her outfit begged to be painted.

I attended a demo put on by the amazing Suzie Short this weekend, called Sea and Shore. This is my attempt to use the skills I learned from her. This is a little smaller than a 1/4 sheet on 300 pound Indian village organic cotton paper. I tried to limit the colors I used here to Quin Sienna, Shadow violet, Ult Blue, Turquoise, yellow ochre and pyrrol orange

Mark Graham is a talented old time musician who combines good music with humor, a rather unusual combination. I was taken with his skill at working his mouth harp with his large, well made hands. He so kindly permitted me to paint this portrait while he was jamming at Folklife this year.

I was recently contacted by a fellow artist, Robert Campbell. He was inspired by this painting of Mark, because his own father used to play the harmonica many years before. He used Mark’s hands to make this painting:

The wonders of the Seattle Folklife Festival include very young people playing very old music. If anyone thought this stuff was going to die out, guess again, it is firmly entrenched in an eclectic few and is being exposed to all ages. This is painted on a piece of Indian Village handmade paper, measuring 6″ x 8″

This is about being a cat from a cat’s eye view. I have been doing these whimsy kitties on and off, they are all originally inspired by a cat named Enza who I am lucky enough to have living with me.

I saw this handsome man drumming at the Folklife festival. I unfortunately did not get his name, but his face I think I caught.

A band without a bass tends to wander, lacking the stability, rhythm and punch that a bass provides. Carmen is a great bass player that I have the honor to be acquainted with. We caught him at Folklife jamming with friends, but he wasn’t too busy to say hello to us. If you want to hear what they sound like, follow the link attached to the title of this post.