Watercolors by Mimi Torchia Boothby » art

The Cookie Lady

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:33:41 +0000

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.

By the big barn

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:06:21 +0000

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.

A log cabin past its prime

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:05:44 +0000

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.

Enza Waits

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:28:33 +0000

Everyone deserves to have at least one pet that stands out from all the rest; maybe it’s that they’re beautiful, maybe they have personality, maybe it’s because they are just a member of your family that you really cherish. Enza is that cat. Born out in our back yard during a very dry spring, we first discovered her as one of a litter of kittens running to escape our neighbor’s lawnmower, as he tardily tended to his tall grass. Weeks later, I finally trapped the whole litter and the mother cat; they were all completely wild. We neutered the mom and let her go, but the kittens we socialized with lots of TLC and patience; it was a rare summer, both my sons were around, and they both contributed to the effort. When the kittens were all tame, I was to give them to the no kill shelter who sponsored them. But giving up all four of them was very traumatic. Enza chose me, and I brought her back home. Enza went from being a completely wild animal to the family manipulator. She invents routines to get our attention, she does tricks while guests giggle, she launches herself between us in the middle of the bed, something she started doing when she was so small we feared for her safety. The feral cat spay and neuter project uses art for a fund raiser. They have a little lobby where the walls are covered with paintings. The more you donate, the nicer a painting you may choose. This painting was made for that purpose. It is fitting that Enza’s largess extends to her extended family of feral kitties all over the Seattle area.

Postmarked 2010

mimitorchia — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:33:01 +0000

Just for fun I entered a painted envelope in this fundraiser
YOU CAN PLAY TOO! read on below

Postmarked 2010 is an annual fundraiser forCall for Mail Art Submissions
Postmarked 2010 6th Annual International Mail Art Exhibition
and Silent Auction Fundraiser
Exhibit: March 5-14, 2010

Requesting your original mail art for display and sale to raise funds for The Claremont Forum’s Prison Library Project, which sends thousands of books free to inmates throughout the country. Hundreds of volunteers package books (donated to the Project by our local community), which are then mailed in response to inmate letters requesting reading material while incarcerated. For many years, The Claremont Forum received these requests in hand-illustrated envelopes created by the prisoners who sent them. It is in this tradition that we present POSTMARKED as our very appropriate fundraiser. Please join us for this international event!

Please send submissions of mail art of any size and medium to:

Postmarked 2010
Prison Library Project
112 Harvard #303
Claremont CA 91711

Entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2010

**** ONLY the side with the official USPS Postmark/barcode will be displayed*** Your mail art may be painted, stamped, collaged, printed, and/or otherwise decorated or constructed. It may be any shape and size that will go through the mail and receive an official postmark. It may get worn or torn through the mail, but the handling process is an important part of the theme. Only the side with the postmark can be displayed, due to space limitations, but the art doesn’t have to be limited to that side. You may include any message inside the envelope, which will be opened only by the person who purchases the art envelope. All entries will be displayed online at the official postmarked blog below. You may submit more than one piece… and begin sending now!

To learn more about Postmarked 2010, please visit
www.postmarked2010.blogspot.com

One last glance at Autumn Colors

mimitorchia — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:47:28 +0000

The season of Autumn has flown by us, the trees seemed to hold their leaves forever, and they were resplendent. One day this week I saw the wind come up and I knew, these leaves were destined to finally fall. And this is pretty much like what it looked like from my window.

The Dogwood flower

admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:44:06 +0000

Every now and then I have to take a break from all the faces, and find myself painting flowers or something like that instead.

In our back yard we have a magnificent Dogwood Tree – it is very inspirational. This painting is one of a series. It is 5.5″ x 8.5″

Paint my grandpa

admin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:53:00 +0000

How many times do you reminisce about someone you loved; after they have died? And you don’t even own a nice photo of them. Artists can come to the rescue, using tiny old black and white photos. I got to know this guy after he died. I could see him through the loving eyes of his grandchildren as I read their eulogies. I found some photos of his life on line and got a feeling for him. Yet the only really nice photos of him showed him at the very end of his life, and both the family and I wanted to see him vibrant and happy, so I ended up using a 1.5″ x 3″ b&w photo from 1960 as a reference. This is my first commissioned painting.