My Dad, Lee Boynton, was my biggest inspiration in art. I grew up posing for him as his model, then started studying with him throughout my childhood and into my adult life. I painted in oil mainly; Dad painted in both watercolor and oil. Following the theories of color and light first developed by Claude Monet, the father of Impressionism, my Dad used a palette of colors based on the natural spectrum of light. He preferred to paint “en plain air” (French for out doors) and directly from life. Painting outdoors, directly from life, forces you to observe, as if in a mediative state, the very brilliance of a passing moment. It was wonderful to be able to share that passion with my father; to get excited and talk about art together; to go on painting excursions together; and to witness his passion for teaching his students.

In July 2014, I spread my wings and drove across country by myself. Before I left my mom said “pay special attention when you see a butterfly because that is a sign that God is there.” I didn’t have any plan and there were many times I doubted myself and felt lost, but everything always worked out for the best. When ever I felt afraid I would see a butterfly and felt comforted. I painted little landscape paintings along the way. I found art related jobs on craigslist before reaching the cities on my route. When I finally got to Oakland, California, I stayed with a childhood friend from Annapolis. I painted a picture of a pretty blue house with sunflowers around it and met the woman who lived there. This opened the door for me to live there for 8 months with her and her two children. I got a job at a local deli and struggled to make ends meet in the Bay Area.

On new years eve 2014, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Some months later, I returned to Annapolis to help him.

All through the winter last year Dad and I painted together just the two of us in his studio. One of the paintings that I really liked that we did together was of a rose. He had found a rose blooming in December and we painted it together. Its interesting to look back at both of our paintings side by side and remember thatfragile pink of the rose. I can remember Dad’s suggestions when I look at this painting.

As my Dad’s sickness progressed, I found more and more pure joy in focusing on my art. I started making paper butterflies by cutting heavy card stock with an xacto blade, then gluing brilliant Asian papers behind the cut out wing shapes. When you hold them up to the light they look like stained glass. I made these paper butterflies to hang in the sunny window at the foot of Dad’s bed to comfort him - and to remind him that God was there. On April 24, 2016, my father spread his wings and went home to the Lord.

This year in celebration of my 30th birthday, I have decided to commit to being a full time artist. To give to myself what I love and to allow my art making to be an expression of my faith and my father’s influence on my heart. I continue to paint still life paintings and I continue to make paper butterflies. My future goal is to use these butterflies to collaborate with a scientist to help spread an understanding of the importance of habitat restoration.

Many folks say “its tough to be an artist, you have to do something else to support yourself” but I know that isn’t necessarily true. It depends on you, how committed you are to pursuing your vision. My Dad approached it just like anyone else would approach another career. He went to his studio from 9 - 5 every day to work, or painted outdoors. He created huge lovely paintings of watermen, ocean waves, or paintings of historic sites.

Growing up with my Dad I saw that the greatest thing about being an artist is that you can promote yourself, you can set your own boundaries. If you can imagine something as being possible, it is possible.

Unlike my father, I like to use many different materials and forms of art. I think its important to experiment — to keep your definition of yourself as an artist and what you “do” open as you learn. I can use one material and encounter some difficulties in executing an idea, and then use another material and find the answers. For example, I started out as an oil painter, painting landscapes with my Dad throughout my childhood. I found capturing the sense of distance as the rolling hills of the landscape became veiled in atmosphere to be very challenging. It wasn’t until I started using cut paper in collage that I could understand the layers of distance in the landscape.

For examples of my work visit: www.margieboynton.com

Capital article written by Meredith Newman, May 1, 2016

Lee Boynton could find the beauty of any landscape — an oyster boat, a shallow river, an empty grass field.

One day in 2009, the art teacher class assigned his students to paint landscape before them, a red tugboat in a duck pond. But it wasn't just any pond or boat to Boynton. It was another example of nature's beauty, he explained.

And like his students, Boynton plopped down his easel and began painting. For student Melissa Gryder, who had never taken her easel outside before, Boynton's class transformed her from a still-life artist into a landscape painter.

"You wouldn't see every teacher painting alongside you," said Gryder, an artist in Annapolis. "He celebrated the majesty of nature and had a passion for God. You couldn't help being inspired by his delight and love for it."

Boynton, 62, died of colon cancer April 24. He was known for his Impressionist theories of color and light in both oil and watercolor. He frequently drew Chesapeake watermen, the Maine coastline and Maryland farms and fields.

He was one of the first artists-in-residence at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and began teaching there in 1983 until a couple months before his death. Students of Boynton say his last legacy will be a one-of-a-kind teacher who taught and mentored emerging arts in the Annapolis arts community.

"If you find any great painter you're going to find a lineage that goes back in time," said John Ebersberger, an artist in Annapolis who taught at Maryland Hall with Boynton. "There's a saying that you're standing on the shoulder of giants. A lot of his students have become exhibiting artists."

Ebersberger knew Boynton since the early 1980s where they took classes under influential American painter Henry Hensche. Under his teachings, Boynton used light, bright colors with his Impressionist pieces, which at the time, wasn't done before.

Lee brought Henry Hensche's (technique) to the watercolor medium," he said. "That was an unique contribution. Lee tried to continue in that classical realism merged in Impressionism."

Boynton's art won numerous awards at Paint Annapolis, Paint Easton and the Wayne Plein Air Festival, according to his website. In 2009, he won the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County's Annie Award, one of the most prestigious local arts honors. He co-wrote "Painting the Impressionist Watercolor," which detailed his technique.

Like much of his work, Boynton's murals created a deep sense of place, said Joann Vaughan, executive director of the Maryland Federation of Art. She added that Boynton used wide ranges of color in way that was different from other painters.

"People respond to Lee's work because the color gives you a sense of what it felt like to be there," she said.

For Nina Ellsworth, a former student and Annapolis artist, Boynton saw color in a way that was revelatory.

"He used would tell us which colors to use and say 'You'll get it later.' We would paint something together, and use this yellow ochre," Ellsworth said. "We would think that so weird. But when it was on the canvas it all made sense.

"He really wanted to teach his point of view," she said. "He wanted that to live on in a way."

Ellsworth added that it was clear he had a natural gift. During one class, the students were painting on a bridge near Clay Street. Boynton demonstrated how to show light reflecting on the river, and he loaded a light blue paint on his pallet knife. In one smooth brush, it "magically" became the river in front of them.

"I cried when he did that," she said.

For Gryder, a former student, taking Boynton's classes influenced the direction of her art. Before, Gryder mostly did still life art. But Boynton helped her answer the "riddles" of landscape.

"He never judged people for the level they were on, whether professional or if you were enjoying your time painting," she said. "He gave you respect."

Gryder teaches painting at Anne Arundel Community College. The night she learned of her former teacher's death, she showed her students how to paint landscapes, similar to the ones Boynton taught her.

She described it as a "full circle" moment, especially since she was using a hand made pallet created by Boynton to teach how to draw red boats and duck ponds. In the Annapolis arts community, he was known for making "perfectly balanced" pallets.

Almost every artist she knows uses one.

"Every time you paint, there you are holding your Lee Boynton pallet."

Why I Paint - the meaning of art in my life - by Margie Boynton

An artistic legacy: Former students remember Lee Boynton