Travel Memory-Greece

"Island Siren" © Johanna Bohoy, 2016, Watercolor, 8x10



White Washed & Blue

Deep blue water, pale blue sky, 

sunshine whites, and fuschia brights.

Drink in hand, barefoot, and free.

A siren from the sea is calling me.

"Cat's House" © Johanna Bohoy, 1990, pastel.

Cat’s House

Classical ruins.

Ancient & rare. 

Tourists: “Do not touch!"

~

But the cat will.

It’s his home. 

The column– his couch. 

The sun– his heat.

A privileged king in his castle.

“Light Caught in Greece” ©Johanna Bohoy, 1978, Glyfada, Greece, Watercolor, 13x13

Light caught in Greece

The day is long

The sun slow to leave.

The light is caught

and the shadows wait.

The door– soon to close 

and the flowers to bed.

Goodnight Greece.

~ Johanna Bohoy 

Travel Memory- Alaska

"Alaska Watch" © Johanna Bohoy, 2014, pastel.

Alaska watch–

Out come the cameras and phones. Almost tipping the boat into waves. 

Capturing mountains and glaciers ahead. 

And a humpback? an otter? an Orca? a seal?

Sights to see and send home.

Heading to Surprise Glacier, Alaska

"Surprise Glacier" © Johanna Bohoy, 2014, Watercolor, 20 x 16



Surprise–

It's a glacier.

An ice sculpture framed by the mountains. 

Groaning, cracking, spouting, melting- calving into the sound. 

Baby blue reflected from the sky above.

Chunks of ice swim over to greet us. 

Little ships built by hundreds of years of compressed snow- now set sail.

A wonder of nature before our eyes.

Surprise Glacier, Alaska.

 "Hatcher Passe" © Johanna Bohoy, 2014, pastel.

There's gold in them there hills...

Hatcher Pass, Alaska. 

Through the rolling hills and roiling mist a shrouded vestige of the past appears. 

Peaks of red that sheltered the miners of the Alaska Pacific Mining Company dot the velvety green pass. 

Ghostly mists and fog and clouds hover above, all secretly holding the stories 

of the men seeking their fortunes that came to a halt during WWII. 

Eerily beautiful.

Travel Memory- France- Bohoy

Monet's Garden in Giverney, © Johanna Bohoy, 2007, Watercolor

Rain–

I thought it ruined my day for Monet's Garden in Giverny- 

but surprise it was dotted with people holding umbrellas 

looking like flowers themselves.

"Fleurs de Provence" © Johanna Bohoy, 2009, pastel.

Provence–

Artists come for the light.

As do the flowers.

When they die they still live.

Dried, and fragrant in sacks for sale.

"I'll take a kilo of rosebuds s'il vous plait."

"Paris Bridge" © Johanna Bohoy, 2008, pastel.

April in Paris–

Rain, rain, rain.

Gray every day.

Even at night.

Until the last- when the sun came out

and I learned why they call it 

City of Light.

    "Pink Calla" © Johanna Bohoy, 2007, pastel.

Nice Nice–

At the Nice flower market I bought a huge bouquet 

of pink calla lilies and other fleurs. 

Then; a bottle of wine, cheese, and bread. 

In the hotel room I savor the beauty of the little sculptures 

and the perfume that now scents the room, 

the glass of wine, a piece of bread, and a sliver of cheese. 

C'est la vie!

Travel memories- Ireland dawns by J. Bohoy

From a trip to Ireland, too long ago:

It's dawn.

Aqua mist reveals:

the hills; the castle; the velvet greens.

the moss, the mounds; a mirrored lake.

A silent Irish beauty.

1974, Acrylic, 26x26

Artist's collection.

 

 In an Irish cottage:

A rich little place.

Blossoms on walls envelop the room.

With treasures of paintings, furniture, and lace.

Touring the cottage- no one's around.

She looks in the mirror- not to be found.

1974, Acrylic 36 x 39

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Travel memories- Portugal-Bohoy

In yesterday’s Boston Sunday Globe newsaper I was interviewed for their VIP travel section entitled “A VIP reader talks about all things travel.” Read it here: https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?artguid=0e007f99-8051-456f-bcb4-738dc692a7d2

In honor of travel (and that time of year when we think of traveling) I will be featuring my travel paintings– starting with Portugal:

Travel. Tired. Trip into bed.

Trays of bread, butter, sweets and coffee wait outside the door in the early morn. Obrigado

Pastel of Villa Real, Portugal, 2008

Original NFS [email for available print]

In Nazare a Fisherman's widow dressed in all black strolls the beach with the background of the unforgiving azure blue sea.

Pastel, 2008 [email for available available]

 

The newborns.

Glad to be alive. 

Frolic and dance, bounce and bob, jump, and scamper, and skip on the green.

Spring is coming.

HURRAY.

Pastel, 5x7, 2009, British Isles.

Island Breeze

Watercolor & gouache, 11x14

Island breeze. 
Granada.
Filmy Curtains billow.
Exposing the verdant view.
No AC, no fans.
For the gentle winds caress. 
Light air fluffs the dress for night.
A tropical drink in sight.

On Exhibit...

My painting "Cuba Street" is on view at the juried Arts Fest Exhibit at the Manninen Gallery, Endicott College, Beverly, MA- June 10 to August 9.

Time had stopped. 

Just like we had heard-everywhere we found ourselves in Cuba, we felt like extras on a movie set. 

Besides the vintage cars, the buildings were revealing portraits of the past. 

Some- beautiful Colonial architectural gems that had crumbled from time and the lack of upkeep and money.
Some- vibrant colorful structures that screamed 'tropical.'
And others- visions of poverty.

Watercolor, 11x14, [matted with black 16x20 frame]. $450.

Chicago.
A gradation of greys reaching for the sky. 
Misty grey. Shades of grey. 
Grey steel disappearing into the fog. 
No sun but for a spark of life in a window on Lake Shore Drive. 
"Chicago, Chicago that toddlin' town
Chicago, Chicago I will show you around
Bet your bottom dollar you will lose the blues in Chicago..."

Pastel, 10x8, $125.

 

Cover Cats

This painting appears on the cover of the Boston City Paper with bio inside. A nice way to start my New Year. 

(Pastel, 10x8, 2008, framed, $170. 

Many years: Many places

Captured time travel from
‘home sweet home’, 
to the west, 
on a European ‘Grand Tour,’
to Island oases, 
& finally home again. 

Exhibit thru April 29, 2015
Beverly Library, 32 Essex Street, 
Beverly, MA

Chicago Shades of Grey

Leaving Chicago, outside the window, revealed a gradation of greys reaching for the sky. Misty grey. Shades of grey. Grey steel disappearing into the fog. 
No sun but for a spark of life in a window on Lake Shore Drive. 
"Chicago, Chicago that toddlin' town
Chicago, Chicago I will show you around
Bet your bottom dollar you will lose the blues in Chicago..."

Pastel, 10x8, $125.

Surprise Glacier, Alaska, watercolor, Bohoy

Surprise!
It's a glacier.
An ice sculpture framed by the mountains. Groaning, cracking, spouting, melting- calving into the sound. Baby blue reflected from the sky above.
Chunks of ice swim over to greet us. Little ships built by hundreds of years of compressed snow- now set sail.
A wonder of nature before our eyes.
[Surprise Glacier, Alaska].

Watercolor, 20 x 16, unframed  $500.

Alaska watch

Out come the cameras and phones. Almost tipping the boat into waves. Capturing mountains and glaciers ahead. And a humpback? an otter? an Orca? a seal?
Sights to see and send home.
Heading to Surprise Glacier, Alaska

Pastel, 10 x 8, $175. 

Hatcher Pass, Alaska, pastel Bohoy

"There's gold in them thar hills." 
Hatcher Pass, Alaska. Through the rolling hills and roiling mist a shrouded vestige of the past appears. Peaks of red that sheltered the miners of the Alaska Pacific Mining Company dot the velvety green pass. Ghostly mists and fog and clouds hover above, all secretly holding the stories of the men seeking their fortunes that came to a halt during WWII. Eerily beautiful.

Pastel board, 16 x 20, $400.

Lavender Fields, Sequim, Bohoy pastel

Lavender Fields forever.
A little bit of Provence on an island off of Seattle- a town called Sequim.
Mounds of purple, lavender, blues and violets line up on the farms like soldiers ready for battle to clean and permeate the air with its herbal, sweet scent. 
[The name comes from lavandus a Latin word that means to wash and its aromatherapy properties soothe one's head, body and soul.]
It did.

Pastel, 8x10, $150.

Peony Seller, Pike's Mkt Seattle, Bohoy

Peony Seller at Pike's Market in Seattle:
Pale pink balls of heavenly aroma arranged in buckets for sale.
Like puffy little petticoats.
How can nature create such petals of perfection?

8 x10, mixed media. SOLD- Pennsylvania

Cuban Cigars, pastel, Bohoy

A new painting done for a recent "Colors of Cuba" exhibit:
 
In Cuba the government owns everything. Even though they have free health care and fee education the people in Cuba earn a meager wage, to say the least- $17-30 US dollars a month.
Many take to the streets to make money. 
Here, a woman with an humorously large cigar in her mouth hopes to earn a living by posing for tourists.
Juxtaposed to her, is a man who is just casually enjoying his cigar- one of Cuba's most prosperous industries.
Ironically a plant that looks like tobacco leaves separates them both.

Pastel, 8x10, mat with black 11x14 frame, $225.

MG Cruise, pastel Bohoy

Cruisin. Carefree. MGs all in a row. A metal rainbow streaming thru the streets, hills, woods, and seaside.
Vrooooom.

Pastel, 8x10, $150. 
SOLD [Massachusetts]

Boston we love

Painting from my archives of the Boston we know and love.


"Boston Swan Boats" watercolor, 8x10. View of the Boston Public Gardens.
$195.