A Passion for Art at Chester Village West: Elizabeth Gillies “Mike” Boyd

“To stay young, you must have a passion,” says visual artist Elizabeth Gillies “Mike” Boyd, whose paintings and drawings have been shown in exhibitions and galleries across Connecticut. “I can’t live without my art – it’s like air to me. I need it every day.”

A diverse collection in acrylic, watercolor, pastel and charcoal – the products of Mike's talent, training and eye for detail – grace the walls of her sunny residence at Chester Village West. The work is astounding in its diversity: from a tranquil cove scene, to a vibrant still life, to an Asian-inspired mixed-media painting, to portraits and bold abstracts.

Mike's journey as an artist began in third grade, when she entered the Detroit Institute of Art's program and began painting with other children from around the city. During high school in Albany, New York, Mike's art teacher helped her continue to develop her skills. At age 15, Mike studied with the American Impressionist painter, illustrator and teacher Frank Vincent Dumond at the Vermont Art Colony in Manchester Center, Vermont. On rainy days, says Mike, “We would go inside the big studio and pose for each other's drawings. On some of those days, Norman Rockwell would come in, very nonchalantly, and have us pose for his impromptu sketches.”

At Sara Lawrence College, Mike studied with Theodore Roszak, who, she says, “really opened my interest in abstract art.” After college, she worked as assistant curator at the Albany Institute of Art before meeting her husband Bill. At that point, Mike relates, “I set art aside for awhile to care for our family.” The passion remained, however: Mike, Bill and their children Lisa, Shelly and Whit moved to Grosse Pointe, Michigan where Mike joined the Detroit Society of Women Painters.

In 1979, the Boyds moved back to Connecticut, settling in a 300 year old antique home in Madison that would allow Bill to commute to his Rochester, New York-based job as a printing company sales representative while providing their eldest daughter Lisa, who is developmentally disabled, access to programs and services in their shoreline community. The couple acquired a lobster boat they moored in the Sound and took for weekend jaunts up the Connecticut River. Mike joined the shoreline's art associations and centers in Guilford, Madison and Clinton, helping organize and jury shows, working with painters who offered demonstrations, and entering shows herself.

Mike's artistic expression in Connecticut blossomed in the late 1980's and 1990s. Working in collaboration with 10 other female artists from 1984 to 1991, the women took their exhibitions to locations around the state, including The Erector Square Gallery in New Haven, Choate School in Wallingford and the Mill Gallery in Guilford. Mike has had her own work shown at the Sylvan Gallery in Clinton, Gallery One in in Old Saybrook, the Cooley Gallery in Old Lyme and the Wall Street Gallery in Madison.

Mike's art has enriched her life and has provided a powerful outlet for her observations. But the thought of giving up her third-floor studio in the family's Madison home was barrier to the couple's considering a retirement community. “The kids were pushing us to move to a place that would make our life a bit easier, but I really needed my artistic space,” says Mike. “I couldn’t move unless my new home included a studio of my own where I could paint whenever I wanted to – day or night. However, the folks at Chester Village West found a solution: They added a wall in what would be our residence's master bedroom, carving out a light, bright art studio for me.”  

Shortly after Mike and Bill moved to Chester Village West in early 2014, Mike held an exhibit of her work as part of the community's resident art show where 15 residents contributed over 95 pieces of work. She sold two paintings in the process. Mike's neatly organized studio, with wall cubby holes for works-in-progress, looks out onto the community's park like grounds.

“When Bill and I moved to Chester Village West, friends said, 'Mike, I just don't think I'm ready to move yet. I just can't face selling the house and sorting through all our stuff',” Mike relates. “But there's a down side to waiting too long. We decided we were going to make the best of our golden years. And quite frankly, it was time: the house was becoming a burden.”

Sadly, after an unexpected diagnosis and severe illness shortly after they moved to their new community, Bill passed away last November. Mike, who participates in Chester Village West's bereavement group, finds comfort by staying active. With her creative friends, she remains involved in the shoreline's arts community. Her two bedroom residence has plenty of space for extended visits from her grand-daughter and great-grandaughter, who live in Santa Rosa, California. Mike's daughter Lisa, who lives in a resident house managed by the Shoreline Association for the Retarded and Handicapped (SARAH), visits her every weekend and swims in the community's pool.

Above all, through her life's evolution, it's the art – Mike's lifelong passion – that continues to inspire and sustain her.