Watercolors by Mimi Torchia Boothby

The Black-footed cat

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:05:06 +0000

Now we must delve into the realm of incredibly cute. It is hard to imagine that something as little and as cute as these cats are could be so fierce and wild. But they are. They are also extremely energetic, unlike our house cats, they hunt all night leaving sleep for the daytime where they hide in termite mounds or hare burrows. They are tenacious as well, the natives have a legend claiming the ‘Anthill Tiger’ can bring down giraffes. While this is untrue, it pays homage to the fierce determination of these feisty little felines. They have been observed stealing prey away from polecats and chasing off jackals.
The black footed cat lives in the South African Deserts, and a large male can get up to 5 1/2 pounds; now that’s smaller than my smallest house cat.
According to The International Society For Endangered Cats, one of these little guys eats about 3000 rodents every year. Their habitat is threatened in many ways; by dogs, by encroachment, and by poisoning. The poison is not meant for them, but it kills just the same. They are extremely difficult to breed in captivity, but the Wuppertal Zoo in Germany has been breeding them with some success.
Thanks to the cat researcher, Dr Brian Sliwa, there exist a whole set of wonderful photos of these little creatures; they are tracking them, taking their photos, and learning about how they live. And it was Dr Sliwa’s photo that I used as a reference for this painting.
Please visit the International Society for Endangered Cat‘s website to learn more about the black footed cat and see Dr Sliwa’s photographs.

This little painting is for sale 5″ X 7″ $60.00, if you buy it, $60.00 will go directly to the research and conservation of these little cats.

The Art chairs debut – Beacon Hill

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:43:41 +0000

Some time in November, I joined a local community project that involved painting a lot of boring looking folding chairs. I shared the story with a lot of people, and many wanted to see all the chairs together.
Today they had their debut at the Beacon Hill Public Library, so I took photos of some of them. They had been arranged inside and outside of the library, and in 3 rooms, so I was not able to take pictures of all of them. But you get the idea.
You can read about the day I painted here
You can click on each photo to see a bigger version.

Healing plants of Hawaii

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:01:11 +0000

A lot of you know that my husband spent nearly 2 months in the hospital, with the resultant weight loss and weakness from the length of time he was there. He was home for almost a month with no appreciable weight gain when we left for a week of sun in Hawaii.
We stayed in Kona, which is a bit more rural and agricultural than a lot of the Hawaiian hot spots. And as a result, we had access to fresh produce; with 2 farmer’s markets within 3 miles of where we were staying. We ate papaya every single day; and avocado, strawberry bananas, lemons, macadamia nuts, mangoes, passion fruit and pineapple. We found papaya trees like these everywhere, and sometimes, beneath them, we found fruit just laying there, waiting to be eaten. We sat underneath a Macadamia nut tree and ate nuts that were laying beneath our feet. (they are tough to crack!)
I am happy to report that my husband gained more than 3 pounds in one week. He did NOT drink the high protein drinks his doctor suggested; he ate fruit, fruit, fruit; fresh every day. (and other good stuff too; like chocolate).

My nephew Paolo lives in Kona, and he is very attuned to the native (and non-native) plants in the area. He took us under his wing, answering our many questions about this plant and that. Our first day there, I discovered a ubiquitous tree full of big fat fruits. They reminded me of the breadfruit, so I was certain when I saw this one; that I had found yet another plant full of sustenance, free for the taking, as they were everywhere. This plant is called the Noni. It’s in the mulberry family and it was brought to Hawaii by the original Polynesian settlers for its healing properties. I picked up a fruit, and it smelled like rotten cheese! Hawaiians put this stuff on infections. You don’t eat it. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to try it.

These two paintings are out of my travel journal. Stay tuned next week for a new wildcat painting.

Chace – the story of one serval

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:56:20 +0000

Gather round, I have a story to tell. While the Serval Cat, native to Africa, can be found south of the Sahara desert, it is not considered to be endangered, even though they are now extinct in many areas like Morocco,Tunisia and Algeria.
This painting is of a cat named Chace, whose early life is unknown, but he was rescued from a perilous situation in 2007. A woman was walking down the street one day in upstate New York when she saw what appeared to be a wild animal crazily crashing into the windows of a home. Animal control officers quickly rescued the cat and discovered that he had been left without food for some time, having resorted to eating furniture stuffing to survive. The house was abandoned by a drug dealer, who had apparently returned from time to time with food for the serval cat.
Chace was lucky, they nursed him back to health and eventually sent him to where he lived out the last few years of his life safely and comfortably.

Servals are wild animals and are not suitable as pets. There are people who breed and sell these cats, they are taken from their mothers at birth and declawed. They are great while they are kittens, but the older they get the more solitary and timid they become. They are huge (for house cats) weighing in up to 35 pounds. They require a very specific diet to thrive. They are rather destructive because they can jump 15 feet up and are extremely athletic and even while neutered at a really young age, both males and females tend to spray.

Servals can be found in sanctuaries and museums all over, so of the cats I have so far depicted, you have a good chance of being able to see one alive.

Chace died after living at the wildlife sanctuary for about 2 years from kidney failure. They estimated his age to be around 13 years of age, which is not too bad for a cat who was so badly mistreated.
This painting is not for sale.

reference photo taken by Dan Butterworth.

The Fishing Cat

admin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 23:56:41 +0000

The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. They are twice the size of a domestic cat. Their claws do not retract all the way like most cats, and they love water. Not only do they swim and fish, but they swim underwater for long distances. Fishing cat territory is unfortunately, prime waterfront property where human development continues to destroy habitat and over-exploit fish stock. Fishing cats are forced to eke out an existence among human settlements, even in cities, where they are hunted and blamed for predation of chickens and other small livestock. Luckily there are some foundations that are working to protect them and give them sanctuaries where they and other wild animals can live.
This painting is for sale 8.5″ x 11.5″ and for only $150.00! Half of the proceeds will go towards renting a fishing pond in Thailand to help conserve these wonderful cats.

Read more about fishing cats: http://www.fishingcatproject.info/

Want to hear a Fishing Cat’s meow? http://catinwater.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/embarking-on-a-mad-journey.m4a

About the painting:
I depicted the cat on a rock, which is like a small island, depicting the fragility of their existence today. The reference photo was taken from a large group of photos taken by a Russian couple who have a Fishing cat in their home. They have given open permission to use their images.

A cat called the Kodkod – Oncifelis guigna

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:02:16 +0000

Happy New Year!

Imagine a cat smaller than the cat on your lap; but it looks just like a Jaguar. What an amazing little creature! According to wikipedia they weigh up to five and one half pounds (my tiny cat Nutmeg weighs 8 pounds and she’s not overweight!) and they have a long thick tail. They are threatened since they live in such a small area, parts of Chile and Argentina, in temperate rain forests. They are threatened by logging and habitat loss. This beautiful creature deserves to have a safe place to live. They eat all kinds of vermin, bugs, lizards, mice.

This watercolor painting is painted on Indian Village Handmade paper (which is no longer being made) and is 6″ x 8″. It is for sale for $125 and half the proceeds will go to the CAT ACTION TREASURY, an organization that was created in 1995 to conserve the world’s 36 species of wild cat including the little cats like the Kodkod, the Pallas Cat and the Sand cat.

Felis Margarita – the Sand Cat

admin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:13:56 +0000

The Sand cat is an adorable looking little cat that can be found in desert areas of Northern Africa, Arabia and parts of Central Asia and Pakistan. They are a small cat, a large male weighs little more than six pounds.

The sand cat has highly specialized feet and ears, perfectly designed for life in the desert. Its feet are so furry, and the cat is so light-weight, that it leaves no tracks in the sand. The cat’s ears are shaped much like the bat-eared fox’s and readily listen for any potential prey scurrying across the desert sands.

In many countries it has been illegal to hunt the sand cat for quite some time now as it is a globally protected species, but the cat has possibly remained more well-protected by its religious significance as well. According to the Koran, Muslims believe that sand cats were once the companions of the Prophet Mohammed and his daughter, as they traveled by foot across the desert.

The sand cat can live without drinking water, instead obtaining all the fluid it requires from its prey – in this it is comparable to Black-footed Cat found in similar arid locations in parts of South Africa. The Sand cat is one of the few species of animals that might be profiting from the desertification of the Sahara. As humans find the desert too barren to survive, wildlife returns.

To read more about Sand Cats go here: http://www.agarman.dial.pipex.com/sandcat.htm
or here:http://specieshanginthebalance.com/sand-cat
This painting has been donated to the Felidae Conservation Fund, it’s a 6.5″ x 11″ handpainted watercolor. If you would like to buy it, please contact them.
They fund wild cat conservation and are part of a world wide effort to help these creatures.

What does tortie love look like?

admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:27:07 +0000

A tortoiseshell cat is a cat with both the red gene and the black gene, and they are called Tortie for short. Their fur is mottled in a mosaic of color,and the shapes and patterns are random. If a tortoiseshell cat has enough white on her, she is then called a Calico and her patches of color are bigger and more pronounced. Since the color gene for tortoiseshell resides on the X chromosome, only a very few male cats ever end up being torties — they are genetic anomalies, and so far, all have been sterile, so they are not “worth a fortune” But that is why torties are usually females.

It is wonderful luck to have a pair of cats who love each other, like these two clearly do. They were fostered by Kitty Harbor and were adopted by some very nice people, hopefully as a pair!
This painting is for sale for $125 and half the proceeds will go to Kitty Harbor. It measures 7.5″ x 11″.

Do you have cats who are friends with each other?

A cat lap hug – Aggie.

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:22:22 +0000

I have a wonderful cat that we call Aggie. She was born somewhere in Seattle under an abandoned car. She and her twin sister were trapped and rescued and then I was their foster mother and socialized them both. My husband decided I needed a particularly affectionate cat, so as I was preparing to get these two kittens adopted, he adopted Aggie for me!
Aggie has the plushest coat of any cat I have ever known. She’s covered with grey fur, but in the right light, it’s a very light silver, particularly in places like her toes. One of her favorite things to do is to curl up really tight in your lap, purring away. It’s like a kitty hug. It is quite special to be hugged like this by a cat. So here she was snuggling up to me like this while I was trying to proofread a blog article that my husband wrote. Suddenly, instead of reading, I had flipped over the paper and was sketching her on the back of the printed sheet. That’s how this painting was born. So many people say cats are aloof, but those are people who have never had a kitty hug.

Young Pallas cat watching.

admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:57:43 +0000

The Pallas cat, also called the Manul, is a small wild cat that lives in the cold barren regions of central Asia – the steppe grassland regions of Mongolia, China and the Tibetan Plateau as well as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. They look much larger than a house cat because of their huge feet and thick plush coat; but the largest of them weigh only 10 pounds. They have adorable low set ears and interestingly, their pupils are round like ours. Although the Pallas cat is not listed on any endangered species list, like many other wild cats, their range is threatened and this particular cat does not breed well in captivity.

This is an original watercolor painting and it measures 5.5″ x 7.5″ and it is for sale for $125.00. Half of the proceeds will go to small wild cat preservation.
There is an organization that focuses on the Manul; they are the Pallas Cat Study and Conservation Program