At 73, Renaissance Art Woman ‘Goldie’ Never Stops Learning

By Ken Levy
From portfolios packed with original posters, to oil and watercolor paintings, singing and quilting, and making children’s clothes, Kathy “Goldie” Golden is a truly eccentric and eclectic renaissance art woman.
But it’s her garden that brings her the most joy, and it’s easy to see why. In three years, she transformed her lot-sized Boise yard from hole-pecked plain lawn to something Claude Monet would have gladly painted. Even in late October, her yard was ablaze with striking yellows and reds, glowing oranges, deep blues, greens of every hue, and so much more.
“My garden is my painting in the summer,” she said.
That painting includes bagsful of wildflowers she planted from seed. She has almost two dozen native plants in the ground, including her favorite Ryberg penstemon. Numerous dahlias grace the yard, as do peonies, hydrangeas, climbing English roses, hollyhocks, a wide variety of bulbs and numerous ground covers. She has peaches, nectarines, Concord grapes and other fruit, and herbs and veggies thrive in her backyard.
“I have so many items in my garden, it is hard to believe,” she said. “I am such a spendthrift: I can’t help myself.”
She also can’t help herself once she gets into the groove of painting or creating in various media. She’ll spend her last penny on supplies and spend every waking hour thinking about what she’s creating.
“Once I get the bug, I go on a roll and can’t be stopped.” Goldie said. “I am passionate during all the phases of the art process. it is my meditation. And I get so excited when I’m done. I am sometimes shocked at the wonderful quality and beauty of the final result. Did I really do that?”
She really did. Apart from her garden, Goldie is an accomplished and well-respected artist, and holds a bachelor’s degree in fine art from San Jose State University. Her numerous solo art exhibitions include the Idaho Fish and Game’s MK Nature Center in Boise; The UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science; the Pacific Science Center in Seattle; the Point Reyes National Seashore Center in California; and exhibits with other painters in Sun Valley and McCall, and in Monterey, California at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve.
“It was a big honor to work as a graphic artist at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco for four years,” she said.
Goldie also worked as a biological technician for fisheries for the U.S. Forest Service, often snorkeling to find, identify and count fish. That work helped inform her watercolor painting of salmon spawning upstream, inspired by a friend’s photograph.
“We went into the Frank Church Wilderness and up to the headwaters, and put on our wetsuits,” she said. “We camped for 10 days, moving along the trail with all that backpack and stuff. I was buff.”
At home, My Garden, a very large, intricate mixed-media piece, hangs above her mantle. Using everything from watercolor, silver, pastel, and oil paints to India ink and abalone shells, it depicts her beloved, former Donnelly garden from 20 years ago.
Goldie said she’s done two oils, although she definitely intends to paint more over the winter. One was based on a photo she made of children in Belize. The other, made while she was living in New York, she calls Spawning Taxicabs. The piece depicts taxis as sockeye salmon heading to their spawning grounds.
“When I was in New York, I was sitting on the steps with my paper bag lunch looking at all the cabs and I thought, ‘oh my God, they’re spawning.’ That’s what the taxicabs represent, and then the buildings are the reflection, and the people are the rocks.”
Now, she said, she has renewed interest in painting with the medium.
“I bought all these paints and brushes and canvases and this winter I really hope I get into it,” she said.
She’s done pen and ink posters, often using dots for pixelation, for concerts and performances including the McCall Folk Festival and the McCall Symphony Orchestra. Most of her work she does for friends, family and local folks.
Musically, Goldie began performing at the Alpine Playhouse in McCall with Lori-Ann Murphy. She sang, played guitar and mandolin in those earlier years, then switched to just singing.
“Since it was such fun, I continued to perform with McCall local musicians through the years,” Goldie said. “I sang, so I was the person who decided what we played.”
Those decisions seemed to work out well.
“We had gigs at many McCall Folk Music Festivals in the summer,” she said. “I think we were a hit because we had such fun and had really hot musicians.”
As a quilter, Goldie does the piecing work, using her sewing machine. She’s taken classes on the art, especially in San Diego, where she lived for 10 years to care for her mother. She moved there with her daughter, Xiu Mei.
She did a quilt in Riggins during a two-day class with a teacher who was also a gourmet cook.
“I sewed, sewed, sewed, and it was my first real quilt. I made it for Xiu Mei. I love quilts so much, and I’m still learning.”
That love of learning extends to her music. A self-portrait painting depicts her playing the violin and singing. She almost returned a violin made for her by Jeoff Seitz, but “he said no way. I am so glad he did because I recently began to take violin lessons from Jonah Shue.
“To start taking violin lessons as a senior is hard to describe,” Goldie said. “So I won’t.” ISI