Mimi Torchia Boothby

What do I do when I don’t have a model?

What do I do when I don’t have a model? I often use myself as the model, and this time, I painted my right foot. Since I’m left handed, I found it too difficult to paint my left foot.

June 8, 2015

What do I do when I don’t know what to paint?

What do I do when I don’t know what to paint? I often seek inspiration from other artists; and yesterday, I saw several of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings. In her work, I saw these colors, and I remembered them from when I visited her ghost ranch. This little painting is from a photo I took right…

June 7, 2015

The Guard Cat of Amboise

My sister is on vacation in France, and she sends me daily updates of her adventure. She saw a pretty garden in Amboise, France, but couldn’t get close to it because a cat growled and hissed at her. She managed to take his picture. The little black cat behind him seemed friendlier, but the first…

June 2, 2015

My garden in May

My garden is the opposite of a formal garden. The plants that are growing are either volunteers or tough additions. I grow a variety of native plants as well as european immigrants, like my own ancestors. Foxglove has been in my yard for as long as I’ve lived here, and I’ve never planted it. The…

May 27, 2015

Flower studies

Rose double orange poppy Sometimes I wonder why I keep painting flowers, and then I think of what Georgia O’Keeffe said: “I hate flowers – I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move.” Georgia O’Keeffe While I don’t exactly hate flowers, she had a point. It’s much easier to find flowers…

May 3, 2015