Mimi Torchia Boothby

On Sunday I will be leaving for a two week vacation in sunny (I hope) Italy. I will probably not be blogging from there; I will not have much free time. However, I will be sketching and casing out some future paintings. This painting is of the door that used to be on the house that my great grandfather built many years ago. My grandfather came from a small hill town in Calabria, Sersale. You can see Calabria on the map below. The house is still occupied and owned by family members. The last time I visited, this door was gone, a new modern sturdy door was in its place. At least they painted it green. (Painting is in my own personal collection)

This visit to Italy will take me from Milan to Calabria and back again. I will be traveling via train, plane, bus and automobile. I’ll be back with lots of fresh ideas, thanks for reading!

One of the things that I love are the rough urban areas where you might find derelict factories, railroad tracks, and roads less traveled. I marvel at the emptiness of these spaces where once there were so much noise, cars and industry. This very spot in Seattle, (it’s the corner of Ellis and East Marginal Way South) has been part of my daily commute for over 30 years. When drive my car to work, I sit at a very long light there and stare at that building and that old pickup truck (which is for sale, by the way). Other times, about twice a week all year round, I ride my bicycle to work. In the summertime, I ride right past this scene. As I mentioned earlier, it is a road less traveled, but it’s where trucks go when the major highways are jammed up, so the peace that can be found there on a Saturday morning bike ride vanishes on a Monday morning commute. The cyclist is doing his best to find a path on that broken pavement that is safe. If he’s lucky, he will not have to deal with a lot of traffic and he’ll get to work on time, with rosy cheeks and a smile. And the old pickup truck will continue turning from blue to brown, as its elements react to the steady rain.

Thank you all for all of your wonderful entries in the contest. We got a large range of entries, from a Haiku to a short story. Some were funny, some were sweet and some were macabre I really enjoyed them. I’d like to start with my honorable mention, because she really did create a mood. That was AynE, who wrote the short story. The winner, on the other hand goes by the unlikely moniker, Barkley’s Mommy. I am guessing Barkley is a dog, but I am not sure. Barkley’s mommy is an educator in New Mexico with 3 dogs.. Here’s her story:

Six year old Mabel loved this time of the morning, the not-light, not-dark moments just before dawn. Her mother had worked the graveyard shift at the mill and was snoring quietly on the couch. Her little brother was snuggled in his crib, surrounded by tattered stuffed animals with no eyes. She peeked through the curtains, eager to see what the day would bring. As she sighed with joy, she wrapped her threadbare sweater around her thin body, and quietly opened the front door. The crisp morning air tasted like grass and it was so silent and still that she imagined she could hear the dew drops falling from the lush, green boxwood bushes. She smiled the smile of an innocent child as a friendly crow cawed “good morning”. “Today will be a good day,” she whispered to the world.

thanks to everyone else who wrote and commented!

This weekend we rode our bikes over Chinook Pass, about 5200 feet above sea level. From there we flew down the mountain (on our bikes) and stopped at Whistling Jack’s Lodge, founded in 1931. Now a Whistling Jack is actually a hoary marmot, and they live in that high altitude area.

One of our friends that rode with us actually saw one. Believe me, I was jealous.
Meanwhile, before dinner, I had exactly 30 minutes to sketch. So I sat down next to the river behind our cabin and was captivated by this tree stump. So I tried to draw it..

One of the fun things artists get to do is enter art shows. An art gallery sends out a notice asking for artists to paint a certain theme, a certain subject or even a particular kind of medium. In this case, the C Art Gallery asked us to paint something pink for a fund raiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure during breast cancer awareness month this October. Last year I had absolutely nothing pink, but this year I’m ready. There will be further information about this show later on.

Are these pink enough for you?