Glory of the Sun – the Sunflower


When Donald Boothby was a very young man, he discovered gardening. He was introduced to it by his foster parents Butch and Sonna Pankey, but when he got out of the service he moved to Boise and planted a great garden full of peppers, tomatoes, corn, and sunflowers. He took pictures of his garden, and this painting that you see here today is based on his original faded photo from about 1972. When we were first married, Donald planted sunflowers every year; but here in Seattle, they didn’t do as well, and were often disappointing, so he stopped.

Sunflowers are one of the biggest flowers I’ve ever planted, in Italian, they are called “Girasole” which means “turns with the sun.” They represent harvest, abundance and light.
It is hard for me to think of gardening without remembering how excited he was about it when he was young.

This 5″ x 7″ original watercolor is for sale for $60.00. All proceeds go to endangered species conservation.


3 responses to “Glory of the Sun – the Sunflower”

  1. Lovely portrait of a ‘Girasole’….beautiful also the blue background that really enhances the painting.

  2. Dear Mimi, I’ve been away from blogging for almost two weeks, but I’m glad find this painting of sunflowers greeting me as I return to your blog. What good memories it must bring to you–of your husband and also of your recent trip to Italy. Peace.

  3. Girasole! Didn’t we visit a lovely little seaside town in italia called Girasole?

    Very pretty, not only the painting, but the story behind it!

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