Mimi Torchia Boothby

Xenoclea – The postman butterfly

The Heliconius Xenoclea is one of 39 varieties of Heliconius butterflies, popularly known as Longwings, and are found only in the neotropics. They are easily recognised by their distinctive patterns, elongated forewings and characteristic delicate fluttering flight. Most species produce a variety of different colour forms or morphs, which are often mimetic of unpalatable Danaines,…

April 27, 2012

Whimsy cats

When I started painting watercolors I hit on a theme, “whimsy cats” and painted dozens of them. Based on my patient and wise cat, Enza, I painted them all from the rear view, looking immense from an ant’s eye view in the tall grass. All of them are small, postcard sized or a little larger,…

April 26, 2012

V is for Vermillion Valentine

I can remember the first time I was given a cheap set of pastels, one of the colors was Vermillion. My favorite color, it sent me in rhapsodies to swish it around on my paper. This love affair with the hues between orange and red continues with me to this day. It surprises me how…

April 25, 2012

U is for Urchin

The last wild creature we discovered on our January Hawaiian vacation was the Helmet Urchin. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at when we saw these creatures, that looked like giant nail heads on rock in the coastal rock formations on the beach in Kona. Are those animals? Or some sort of extinct…

April 24, 2012

Turtles

Oh Turtles, all kids love them, in my childhood I got to visit land turtles as big as me; but I was too old to ride them. (You can no longer ride turtles at the Turtleback Zoo) in Essex County, New Jersey. Later, when I was a little bit older, I had a pet turtle,…

April 23, 2012