Mimi Torchia Boothby

Category: Italia

  • In the sunny courtyard

    It was my last day in Calabria, my cousin Peppino was showing me a part of the neighborhood of the little town of Sersale, the neighborhood where he grew up. We came upon a little courtyard that belonged to the Talarico family, distant cousins of mine and of his. It was filled with morning light…

  • Happy Mother’s Day

    It was a sunny day in Naples when I saw this couple crossing the street. It was obviously a mother and a daughter. I loved the way the older woman leaned into the younger one, and how the robust young woman helped her mother negotiate the curb and traffic. In Naples, that is not an…

  • How to commission a portrait

    Most people that want me to paint a portrait say “How much” and I tell them, right now I charge $175.00 for a portrait of one person and $250.00 for a portrait of two people. But not everyone commissions a portrait that way. The last time I went to Sersale, I brought a very special…

  • Pomegranate – the jewel fruit

    I don’t remember my first pomegranate, but I do remember as a child deciding that pomegranates deserved their own holiday. I chose the 28th of September – about the time they showed up in the supermarket. I insisted upon a pomegranate every year so I could celebrate that day. Over the years I have noticed…

  • Meeting in Bologna

    Every time I go to Italy I try to find new places to go. In 2008 I went to Bologna with my good buddies Vanda and Rino. We met a friend of theirs there and “did the town”. Now about Bologna. Like most little kids of the 1950’s I ate a lot of Bologna (Baloney)…