Dorothy Canote is a Mid-Missouri author whose latest book is “Reflections From A Restless Mind.” The book is a series of illustrated essays sharing her love of science, travel, history and nature. Her essay subjects range the full gamut — reminiscing about her hometown of Avalon, MO, traveling to various places in the country of Mexico, exploring caves in the Ozarks, and more. The book is a followup to her first collection of illustrated essays, “Paintings and Musings From the Heartland.” Canote is a retired science teacher who also sold produce, herbs and flowers for 10 years at the Columbia Farmers Market. She was kind enough to take the time to be interviewed via email.
Daniel Boone Regional Library: In your first book you had amassed some paintings over the years and decided to write about them in book form. In the second book, you chose essay topics and then created paintings based on those themes. How did you decide to try a different approach for the second book? Was one approach more challenging than the other?
Dorothy Canote: When I began painting about five years ago I worked through different subjects until I became familiar with my own style and favorite subject matter. I am essentially a realist, and my artist colleagues with whom I paint every week still tease me about the amount of detail that goes into most of my work. Nature and architecture are my two favorite subjects, so I looked for ideas from among my own photos, and others that I found interesting.
I always thought about writing, so thanks to a push from my friend Gladys Swan, I wrote my first book of essays about some of my favorite paintings. Then, as Gladys said, having been ‘bitten by the bug,’ I just wanted to keep writing. I liked the idea of short essays, and as the first book’s formula worked, I picked out the stories, significant times and events of my life, and then painted around them. Both methods worked well. However, having started on my third book, I’m having a problem deciding on a path. I may include some poems and paint around them.
DBRL: Tell us a bit about your painting process. What keeps you coming back to your easel?
Canote: It should go without saying that an artist of any kind does what they do because they are compelled to do so. I started drawing and painting as a child, but the business of work and family doesn’t leave a lot of time for artistic introspection. When I finally retired and had the time, I ran across a listing for the watercolor class through Columbia Parks and Recreation’s Leisure Times offerings. When that course ended after two years, the friends from that class decided we would continue to meet weekly to keep it going.
It is the wonderful relationship with the other women in our group that compels me and compels all of us to continue to paint together. We all use different styles and subject matter, and we feed off each other and critique each other’s work. It feels somewhat like the quilting circles of years ago which, unlike the more modern guilds, were an occasion to just sit and exchange thoughts, ideas, concerns, etc. The most social we get is to have occasional goodies with our painting for a birthday or holiday, or go out for a pizza once a month or so. These gals are my best friends.
DBRL: Both of your books have sections covering your upbringing in Avalon, Missouri. Have you learned anything interesting or surprising about the town while writing your books?
Canote: Yes, interesting more than surprising. Having grown up there and being privy to many stories that I shouldn’t and won’t write about, I doubt there is much there that would surprise me. What it did was to make me more appreciative of the history of our state and the people who settled here. It has been especially interesting to hear the comments of many of the folks who grew up there, about how much the little town’s history played a part in the lives of their families. It also turned me on to digging into the archives of local historical societies and libraries. It is easy to lose yourself reading about all the shenanigans, mishaps, and other local events. It wasn’t any exaggeration when I stated that I fell down more than one rabbit hole doing all that research.
DBRL: Many of your essays illustrate your love of the outdoors and nature, but from what I understand you paint mostly from photographs. Why do you prefer to work from photographs rather than painting scenes in an outdoor environment?
Canote: Plein Air painting — painting outdoors — is not so easy with watercolor as it is with oil or acrylic. The wind tends to blow things away and dry things out too quickly, and nature doesn’t always hold still for an extended period of time. The light changes and things move. When I do things like buildings and bridges there is a lot of measuring and drafting needed to get the perspective and dimensions correct, especially with suspension bridges! Also, many paintings have to be done over a period of days, working in layers and allowing the paper to dry before continuing. And I do enjoy painting from old black and white photos, which lets me be flexible with the colors I want.
DBRL: Read anything good lately you’d like to recommend?
Canote: I read fast, and I read so many books a week that it would be hard for me to pin one down. I would rather mention some of my favorite authors — the ones whose work I like to go back and re-read: John McPhee is my all-time favorite, Louise Penny is a favorite modern author, John Sanford, especially his Virgil Flowers books, Nevada Barr, and I like Sarah Andrews’ fiction which involve forensic geology. And I still go back and re-read the books by Gene Straton Porter, a favorite of my mother.
DBRL: Where can readers get a copy of your book?
Canote: “Reflections From a Restless Mind” is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Compass Flower Press. “Paintings and Musings from the Heartland” is also available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Compass Flower Press. Local folks who know me can contact me directly for an autographed copy.
