All Hearts

HEART DAY: 

Bleeding or hurting? Pulsating & full of love? Purple for courage, sacrifice and resilience. 

All hearts are honored on Valentines Day.

"Movement Arts" paintiing by Bohoy

Feel, Swirl, Jump, Roll, Release. Move your body. And dance!

Watercolor, 10 x 8

Rose Michelle

A bud that blossomed to a swirl of beauty. Inside and out.

A dew drop for life; a teardrop that it can't last forever.

Pastel, 2008/2022
 

Sunflowers for Ukraine

 

The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine. The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine. Ukrainians weave sunflowers into wreathed crowns to wear during celebrations, embroider them onto fabric and clothes, carve them into wooden furniture, and household items, and paint them as decoration on walls. They are used to protect against evil spirits, bad fortune and illness. Just like the sun they bring warmth and light and are the symbol of energy, life and well-being, for fertility, and unity, and peace.

The Orthodox Church did not ban sunflower oil during Lent so the sunflower became popular. By the early 19th century, Ukrainians planted vast fields of sunflowers since their hot, dry climate and rich soil are ideal for their growth. Sunflowers are also effective for extracting toxins: lead, arsenic and uranium from the soil, so they helped remove toxins after the disaster at the Ukrainian Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

A sunflower bud turns its head as it follows the sun across the sky from east to west and droops its head at sundown- a phenomenon known as heliotropism. At dawn they again nod toward the east where the Sun rises again. Just like the Ukrainian people -- they rise and fight in unity for their country.

(info gathered from numerous sources)

Pastel Painting, 9x5, © Johanna Bohoy, 2009

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Watercolor, 2009, 5"x7", matted, $135.

 

 

Diversitree

Just as the trees, flowers, vegetation, and animals share the earth; so do we. All colors, all countries, all creeds.

We are all ornaments on the tree of life.

Celebrate this diversitree.

Pastel, 9x12.

 

Our stars 

The men & women who fight and fought for us.

They place freedom in the hands of the children of the future.

Thank you.

Pastel, 2012, 5x7

Honors

A thank you on 9/11

I put up this painting in April in honor of the Covid workers, but now I revised it to include the firefighters and state troopers that came to our aid when our camper van burned on our way for a Labor Day vacation. 

Since today is 9/11 it's a reminder of how appreciative we are, and should be, of our 1st responders. 

Prayers for them as they fight the fires in California.

 

   I accidentally found this YouTube video of a child reading my children's book "The Nothing Zoo" and it is so cute that I have to share it. 

Adorable. 

And here are some other illustrations from the book. 

Note: I did this many years ago and had followup books on the environment, but at that time publishers weren't interested in saving our planet. So.... they sit in a drawer. A sad commentary on the industry. If anyone is interested in backing my books, let me know.

  

Last Hug

Last Hug.
Before the sun will set.
Before the stars do cease.
Before you go to endless sleep.
A moment of perfect peace.
♥

[Our dear friend Viv was experiencing great pain, nausea and sickness from cancer. But when her grandson hugged her a smile spread across her face, and it all disappeared for one moment of true happiness. Larry captured the photo, and I painted it.
She passed the following week].

Pastel, 16 x 20

Woodstock is music

Woodstock is 50 years old today. 
3 days of peace, love and music.
Here's to all the musicians who add melodies to the world.

Pastels: "Guitar Man" 2011, "Budding Musician" 2011, "Cuban Musician" 2013, "Music of the Night" 2007.

More tears for flowers

I posted before in this in 2017 and stated "I started this painting right after 9/11 and didn't finish it not knowing that it would never be finished.
Thousands of tears.
For New York, Orlando, Virginia, Newtown, Boston, Colorado, Wisconsin, Seattle, Texas, Little Rock, Las Vegas, Virginia, and on and on and on.
The droplets shed from tired, troubled, fearful, sad eyes should not be wasted.
They must sprinkle the flowers we leave for those we cry."
Yesterday Texas. Today Ohio. Last week California.
Sadly now more tears; more flowers.

Memorial wreath cast out to Sea

At our beach they gather.
To honor soldiers, loved ones... ordinary people.
Guards salute.
A cannon is fired.
The wreath is cast into the sea.
It floats away.
Far away.
A lump in my throat.
Sand in my eye.
It gets me every time.

Watercolor, 2010, SOLD [Massachusetts]

Our Viv.

A picture says a thousand words.

Our Viv. 

January 5, 1949 - 

May 23, 2019

Blue skies. A mild sea. Soft breeze. Flags furled. People stroll. 
Quiet thoughts of those who serve.

[Gloucester, MA]

Watercolor, 8.5" x10."5, $150. [matted & white frame]

911 messages

Messages and a rose left on a wall at Ground Zero. 

Watercolor/mixed media, 7x5.

Tara rosa cat, pastel Bohoy

We had to say goodbye to our sweet cat Tara this week. She personified the word sweet. 

A gentle, delicate, feminine cat that our vet said was like a "little ballerina.” 

Never a scratch, a hiss or a bite came from her in 19 years.

She always brought us roses. Dropped them at our feet.

Where she found them- who knows?

But she always knew when 

one was needed.

♥

Tears

I started this painting right after 9/11 and didn't finish it not knowing that it would never be finished:

Thousands of tears. 
For New York, Orlando, Virginia, Newtown, Boston, Colorado, Wisconsin, Seattle, Texas, Little Rock, Las Vegas, and on and on and on.
The droplets shed from tired, troubled, fearful, sad eyes should not be wasted. 
They must sprinkle the flowers we leave for those we cry.

Pastel, 11.5 x 9.5

Library ladies, Beverly Farms Library, Bohoy

Our Beverly Farms Library turned 100 this year. To celebrate, a group of Farms artists pooled together and individually painted scenes of the wonderful institution. My painting was based on my memory of myself as a young girl [older than the one pictured] discovering the library and all the books that I could check out for free! I went from shelf to shelf finding one story to the next that piqued my interest. Marie Antoinette, Anna Pavlova...
My exuberance overshadowed the fact that you could only check out 3 books– let alone read all of the books that I had accumulated. 
The library still evokes that same excitement when I discover a book of interest among the stacks.  

[Pictured here: the library checkout desk and smiling Librarian Kate.]

Pastel, 10x8, SOLD, Massachusetts

Love Song

Valentines' day.
A day of remembrance for all those you love, loved, need to love, want to love, have to love; just love.
Friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, lovers, sons, daughters, grandparents, mentors, pets, people, places, things, freedom...
Sing a song of love.

(Lindsey singing to her grandparents at their special wedding on Valentine's Day)

Pastel, 10x8, NFS