Watercolors by Mimi Torchia Boothby » landscapes

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.

Giuseppina – incredible lady

mimitorchia — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:47:38 +0000

When my grandmother, Lucy Melino Fressola died, she left each of her descendants; children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren some money. With part of mine, I took my entire family to Italy; my husband, my two young adult sons, and I. We decided that it was about time to go visit my grandmother’s home town, Sant’Agata di Puglia, one of many picturesque hilltop towns in Southern Italy.

There was one little lady who still lived there that remembered my grandmother, her name was Giuseppina. She was short and spry with twinkly eyes. She welcomed us to her town with smiles and told us how she was the oldest of 8 children and how they had absolutely nothing. She was not able to go to school because she had to work instead and never learned to read. She eventually married my grandmother’s cousin, Saverio Fabbiano. They bought a house with the sweat off their backs and raised their children in this pristine little village. She radiated joy as she reminisced my grandmother’s last visit. It seems that the day my grandmother arrived, Giuseppina’s daughter had a baby. I later met that baby, a woman close to my age.

There was nowhere to park our car near her home or near our hotel, so this 80 something year old woman led us around on foot, we had to work to keep up with her. Every one of us has a story about our time in Sant’Agata di Puglia, but each of us remembers this smiling old woman who shared her town with us.

Recipe for a bookmark

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:04:36 +0000

Last winter I made a bunch of bookmarks and they were so popular, there’s only 1 left in the house. Today I went to Susie Short’s demo for painting negative flowers for some inspiration. She was focusing on Irises, so I thought I would too. Here’s my finished painting:

Then I cut it into handy bookmark sized pieces:

The first three people that want one and leave a comment here can have their own original handpainted book mark. Leave a comment and I’ll contact you via email for your address. Thanks everyone for responding. I’ll have more bookmarks available at a later date.

A tiny glimpse of the woods

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 01:16:13 +0000

On Monday last, we had a holiday. My husband and I decided to hike to Annette Lake and back, a 7.5 mile hike. Neither of us has done any hiking for years but although it was a rather ambitious outing, we had a great time. I found it rather amusing that while we were walking through the mists, the rest of the USA was roasting. One of the more beautiful vistas I saw on this hike was the misty shadows of distant trees covered by the mid day fog shrouding part of the mountain. This painting measures 2.5″ x 3.5″.

Liberty Bell – Mazama out and back bike ride

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 03:09:35 +0000

Someone heading north and east on Highway 20 on their way to Twisp might never see this incredible spectacle. On the other hand, someone riding a bicycle slowly up this mountain westbound from Twisp cannot fail to see it. It vaults higher than it seems it should, and the shape is so much like a castle with ramparts that it seems almost man-made. but men don’t make things on this scale. What men do (and women too) is try to scale formations like this. This popular bike route starts at Marblemount and goes over both Rainy pass and Washington Pass (the one right past this rock formation. then after this summit, there is a screaming descent down to the Mazama Country Inn, where good food is served and comfy beds await. In the morning, after a delicious and large breakfast, the mountains await and the intrepid cyclists must now climb back out over those same mountain passes.

First Georgetown – Seattle Farmer’s Market

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:38:27 +0000

After weeks and weeks of dreary grey, Saturday dawned with a brilliant light, and the air was sweet. I had already missed the Columbia City Farmer’s market 3 weeks in a row, because every Wednesday in May was rainy and I just didn’t feel like riding my bike down there to walk around in the rain. So I woke up with a plan. I was going to be one of the first people in Seattle to attend the first farmer’s market ever – in the Georgetown Neighborhood.
I got there a few minutes after 10 in the morning and the new location was full of booths and cars were clogging the streets. Since I was on my bike I didn’t have to deal with the parking lot, with attendants waving flags around at the crowds in an effort at maintaining order.
There were a lot of wonderful happenings there that day, and every single person out there was happily taking in the fresh bright sunlight and fresh air. One particular booth, from Full Circle Farms caught my eye. This lovely young vendor was surrounded by her delicate spring vegetables and I had to paint her.

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.

Light Rail in South East Seattle!

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:55:56 +0000

Ever since I rode the tram to Rome, I have been excited about Light Rail, so when our lives were disrupted for over 3 years of construction, I was a lot more patient with it than you might expect from me. And yesterday, July 18th was opening day. Here in my neighborhood, they planned a little party and I was invited as an artist to attend and I shared a tent with Seanna Jordan, who paints whimsical colorful pet portraits. It was a riot. I sold commemorative paintings like this one to Greg Nickels, to wannabe King County Executive Larry Phillips, and I made a special one for Tom Rauf, one of the movers and shakers who is building the new Condominiums called “The Station at Othello” I painted a representation of his own buildings in the painting for him. I had watched him musing over the others and I guessed that he might like one that included his dream. I also met the author of “oldladyonabike” blog, Mona Lee.

My husband and I hopped aboard the light rail to discover — new light rail smell! a lot like new car smell, only different. We rode to Tukwila and back and except for the long lines at Tukwila, we had a great time. The views as you head towards the airport are great. Together with all the other people in our car, we wondered where we will put our luggage when we finally do have the opportunity to take this train to the airport.
It was a fun day!