“I like to begin a painting without knowing what it is, then figure it out,” says Sa Boothroyd. “Things don’t always make sense.” Flying dogs, birds with postage stamps for feet, pots of tea, cats steering houses on bicycle wheels: some of the “senseless” things you’ll find frequenting her paintings, prints, and illustrations, many of them dreamy ecosystems pulsating with colour. “I dwell a lot in the colourful world because the real world is often so grey,” this award-winning illustrator and artist says. Boothroyd’s work has appeared in books and galleries across Canada and abroad. Raised in West Vancouver, she studied at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design before spending three years at City and Guilds College of Art in London, England. There she studied print-making, drank swimming pools of tea, and developed a love for the zany work of Quentin Blake, who first made a name for himself as the illustrator of Roald Dahl’s books. Later, Sa lived in the Laurentians of Quebec before migrating back to Vancouver in 1994. Her work now appears at craft shows such as One of a Kind in Toronto, Circle Craft in Vancouver, and the Filberg Festival in Comox. Her most recent book illustrations, short-listed for a Red Cedar Book Award, can be seen in Before the World Was Ready: Stories of Daring Genius in Science (by Claire Eamer, Annick Press). Closer to home, you can view her work online at www.saboothroyd.com, or at her studio at the foot of the government wharf in Gibsons.
