The Magical Mystery of Last Saturday~~A Blog about an Art Show and my Canadian Connection

 

Magical Mystery Tour

by Cindy Morawski

 

 

 Under the shade of a Texas Live Oak on Alamo Plaza, I placed a simple white tent.   I had painted several landscapes and animal portraits for the Randolph Art League's Fiesta Art Show which kicked off on April 19, 2013.   The tent helped me exhibit 45 paintings, plus, lots of matted prints and art cards.  I was trying to give my customers and viewers a gallery experience. 



 

Colorful banners, piñatas, and flowers waved in the breeze.  Viva Fiesta San Antonio!  It took me about two hours to set up my decorated tent each day.  I also had to take it down at the end of the day and pack up my car.  That took another hour to an hour and a half.  And, that didn't account for the time to set up the tent.  My husband Paul loyally helped me with the tent set up each day.  I took care of setting up my artwork and the decorations.  We both experienced the exercise regiment of setting up and taking down.  Thanks, Paul!  You deserve the behind-the scenes Fiesta medal.  However, I had opportunities to meet lots of wonderful folks from all over the world at my art show.  That made up for the strenuous lifting and toting each and every day. 





 

 

 



 About a week before the art show, I had received a mysterious email to myself ~~from myself.   When I opened the email, I read a  lovely letter from Cynthia Morawski, a teacher from Ottawa, Canada.  She said that she had "googled" her name one day at work in her school office, and she discovered my art website.  She was surprised about her namesake, and exclaimed that she loved my artwork.  She then found out that she was coming to San Antonio for a professional conference the weekend of April 20, 2013.  She inquired if she could meet me and see my art.  I answered the email.  I responded that I would be downtown in an art show and that I would love to meet her.  I gave her my cell phone number. 

 

 When we met, I noticed that she too was blonde and had blue eyes.  We were both teachers and loved art.  We shared the same name, but we shared so much more as well.  It was a full-circle moment.  I still can't believe it.  The stars and planets seemed to align to bring about this amazing day.  Cynthia also brought along her wonderful friend Linda Stein.  She was delightful.  I couldn't wait to get Paul to take a picture of all three of us together.  I couldn't stop smiling.  I felt like I had always known these women.   We exchanged contact information.  They bought some of my artwork too.  I instinctively knew that we would meet again. 

 

On that same day, I noticed the past and future go by me.  A VIA all-electric bus with renewable energy, one of the city's newest in a progressive fleet of San Antonio's public transportation, encountered a horse-drawn carriage on the South Alamo Plaza.  The clip-clop of the horses hooves made more noise on the pavement than that silent electric bus as they passed each other.  Going in opposite directions seemed appropriate.  Slow or fast lane?  Travel choices make life exciting!   

 



 The magic continued on Saturday.  I saw couples of all ages holding hands while strolling by our art tents at the show.  Eating scooped ice cream cones, carrying colorful balloons, pushing babies in strollers, walking their well-mannered dogs on leashes, and nodding hello to me as they walked by or stopped to see my art, folks of all sizes and types visited the plaza.  I met a couple from Israel, a soft-spoken student from Italy, and several friendly people from Canada, as well as visitors from all over the United States.  There were tourists galore!  But, no matter who I met during the show, I kept thinking about the magical mystery of my Canadian Connection.   I could still feel the smile on my face. 

 My next door tent neighbor ~~artist Monique Montney~~looked stunning at the show!  She wore a red beret, pants, and shoes, and a colorful smock that spelled~~CREATIVE.  Her beautiful artwork featured painted gourds and canvases.  You go, girl!

 

RAL Member Earl Rankin displayed his traditional Fiesta medals on a blue sash.  He had been recently photographing everyone.  He also was holding a photo album of last year's participants.  He's keeping track of our lively crew and show.  Thanks for helping us feel like we belong, Earl!

 The magical mystery tour concluded for some as they boarded the red trolley and left the plaza.  Thanks for coming to our art show this year!  It was a show I'll always remember. 

New Songs for Spring 2013, BIRD Paintings

New Spring Songs

by Cindy Morawski

 



Looking out my kitchen window, I notice the birds feeding.  One particular squirrel sits atop our big red metal feeder like a prince
surveying his kingdom.  A plague of doves float down to pick up the remains of the seeds.  They flap and beat their wings in a noisy and bossy way.  Soon, they cover the ground with their muted colors.  One sounds the alarm, when suddenly a large bird shadow flies over.   A hawk cries a warning.  He's just as hungry.  The doves fly up in a mass of feathers and panic.   





 

Baby in Blue

 

Spring's energy almost takes my breath away.  I feel like I've just awoken from a long sleep.  The live oak trees have lost their leaves and now show a green fuzzy glow about the neighborhood.  Birds seem to be everywhere I look.  The mockingbird flits back and forth to the bush outside my kitchen window above the sink.  When I'm doing the dishes, I hear a flutter and spot a quick movement.  The mockingbird is building a nest for its young.  I see other evidence of this happening in my yard.  The wrens are darting in and out of the birdhouse that I hung in one of my backyard's trees.  Their furtive patterns don't fool me for a second.  I've seen this behavior before in the springtime.  They will leave their feathered legacies.  One egg at a time.  One fledgling at a time. 













San Antonio Song (with Frame)

This spring I painted birds with color.  Baby in Blue is a metaphor for new songs and a spring awakening.  San Antonio Song  shows the Southwest bird with a mission's stucco window.  Is it looking in or looking out?  It has a song in its heart, ready for a season bright with sunshine and bright flowers. 

 

 

If you'd like to see my paintings, I'll be in my tent with my new season's artwork in Maverick Plaza, space #124, at LaVillita in downtown San Antonio, the weekend after Easter, April 6, 7, at the Starving Artist Art Show.  This will be the 51st year of the show.  It started in 1963.  It's also a Fund Raiser for the Less Fortunate and is sponsored by the Little Church of LaVillita.  It opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m. each day.  There are no admission fees for the show.  Hope to see you there!

 

www.CindyMorawski.com

MORAWSKI FINE ART & FRAMING

New Songs

Favorite Things

Pinto near Rio Medina, new spring 8x10 painting

Favorite Things

 

by Cindy Morawski

 

 

Traveling last spring to a friend's ranch southwest of San Antonio in Rio Medina, Texas, I spotted a pinto horse grazing in a field of wildflowers.  I slowly pulled my car over to the side of the gravel road and got out with my camera in hand.  The horse looked up from its scented paradise and focused on me.  I then focused my camera's lens on the animal.  I snapped the shot.  I knew it was a scene and landscape that I wanted to preserve for my art and memory files. 

 

The field was blanketed in shades of yellows and purples.  The yellow flowers in the foreground blazed like miniature suns.  I wanted to rotate around each one and feel its beauty and warmth.  The pinto stood like a sentinel guarding the wildflowers.  What a lucky horse!  I stood there riveted.  I wished that I could exchange places with her, if only for a few minutes. 

 

When I think of the things that I love most in the world, I still haven't left childhood.  I remain a lover of horses.  I'm still in love with the outdoors.  I remember gathering large bouquets of wildflowers in the spring in Pennsylvania where I grew up.  I'd ride my horse Flame through the country's fields and pastures.  I'd stop and let her graze, and I'd pick a bouquet of spring beauties to share with my mother when I returned home.  My favorite things.  Hmmmm.  The music of the creek nearby, the warm sun on my face, the perfumed field of flowers, and my beloved horse friend Flame. 

 

I looked at my watch.  How long had I been standing there by the roadside?  The horse's tail swatted some flies away and turned to find another patch of grass to graze upon.  Time to head home.  I looked around.  There were some nearby flowers that I decided to pick for a bouquet.  Some things never change.  I'm delighted about that. 

 

 

HAPPY SPRING!

~~Cindy~~

 

Morawski Fine Art

www.CindyMorawski.com

Studio:  210.522.0706

9th Annual Spring Arts Festival this Saturday



GOT ART?   Get a creative "fix"  this Saturday at the 9th Annual Spring Arts Festival!

 

www.CindyMorawski.com



New Painting:  Peaceful Waters by Cindy Morawski



ART NEWS from the Alamodome to my Studio

Dome Show

Friday Art Demo from photo of Lake Chautauqua

Maria Aguirre's Pastel Paintings

Mary Lopez, President of the Texas Pastel Society,
Saturday's Art Demo
                                                                                          





 

Texas Pastel Society's 2013 Home and Garden Show

by Cindy Morawski

 

 

Look out for that rogue red-tailed hawk!  Getting a break from my art booth at the Alamodome's 2013 Home & Garden Show, I attended Sunday's 1:00 p.m. Birds of Prey show.  Well-trained falcons, buzzards, and other birds of prey starred in the show.  I even fed a dollar bill to one of the birds.  He gently took the money in his beak and flew over to the donation box and carefully placed it into the slot.  What a good bird!  However, when the trainer and his assistant brought out the red-tailed hawk, the audience was stunned when the hawk proved he had a mind of his own.  The hawk flew from the trainer's arm with the sound of a high-pitched whistle.  Higher and higher, the bird flew.  Oops!  I looked at my friend Anna.  Was the hawk supposed to go that high?  Looking down at us, I could almost hear the hawk snickering to himself.  Fooled that guy.  I'm not coming down until I get a real bird.  Not that dumb fake one on a string.  The assistant started to look a little flustered.  The big bird flew across the stage and then landed on the metal railing in the second tier of the Alamodome's stadium seating.  Ha!  The hawk's head bobbed up and down.  He looked from right to left.  Nope.  Not coming down!  The trainer blew his whistle again and again.  The bird flew higher.  I could see a hawk re-training class in his future!  That is, if he ever came down to the stage again. 

 

I looked at my watch.  Paul was taking care of my booth for me.  I had to return and be a responsible artist.  No more bird show for me.  But, I kept wondering about that hawk.  Was he the one that got away?  I heard later from a customer who had also attended the show and stayed till the end, that the MIA hawk finally returned.  NO treat for that guy!  The assistant hurriedly placed him back in his covered cage.  NO more Home & Garden Shows.  More training.  More fake birds flying around his head.  More high-pitched and annoying whistles.  So much for being the STAR of the SHOW! 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 





I wanted to say THANKS for my friends who came out to the Dome Show this past weekend.  Thanks also to those who supported my art with purchases of cards, prints, and framed paintings. 

 

 

My next art show is this Saturday, March 2nd, at the Zion Lutheran Church's Community Center's~~ Spring Arts Festival, located at 1604 and Braun Road in San Antonio.  It starts at 10 and ends at 4.  I'll have my new season's artwork ready to show and sell.  I'm located inside~~ Booth #4.  Hope you'll join me!  The Youth Groups are serving breakfast and lunch.  Shopping can be lots of fun when you have creative choices.  There will be a variety of artwork and arts & crafts to pick from this weekend. Again, hope to see you there!  Please support your local artists. 

 

 

www.CindyMorawski.com

cski02@sbcglobal.net

Studio:  210.522.0706



 

Commissioned 36x44 Painting,

Ready to be shipped to Pittsburgh, PA

Obsessed with OWLS . . . Four Paintings and a Story

                     Giving a HOOT for Owls

Little Burrowing Owl

by Cindy Morawski                   


Portrait of a White Spotted Owl
 




Great Horned Owl




Eyes Wide Open, Short-eared Owl

 

Obsessed with Owls:

Four Paintings and a Story

 

 

It all started with the purchase of an owl art souvenir on a long- ago vacation.  I was finally on my own after college.  I had a teaching job that gave me some spending money.  And, I had begun spending some of my hard-earned money on summer vacations when I wasn't teaching.  Deciding that I needed souvenirs to prove that I actually saw Florida, California, Europe, and so on, I focused on one of my favorite birds, the OWL.  My collection began innocently enough.  But after awhile, my family and friends got in on it.  "I noticed you have a whole shelf of owls.  You must like them, Cindy," my Mother reminded me.  Pretty soon I was getting them for birthdays and holidays from my family.  After that, my friends joined in.  They didn't just ask me what I wanted for Christmas.  They just assumed I'd want another owl. 

 

In my small duplex in South Carolina, where I had one of my first jobs teaching English to rural high school kids, the owl collection was seriously taking over my living space.  When I moved to England five years later, I boxed up the owls and didn't even look at them again until I moved back to the states three years later.  Landing in Texas, my owls flew with me to San Antonio.  I thought I'd sparingly decorate with them.  However, the spartan life of collecting just wasn't meant for me.  I took up my owl collecting again with a renewed passion, only to acquire more boxes filled with owls in my new Texan home's attic and closets.  I was beginning to have a Love/ Hate relationship with them.  Obsessions can be like that! 

 

Finally, I put an end to it.  I had a serious withdrawal for awhile.  I'd see an owl in a gift shop that looked so-o-o cute.  Its big eyes gazing at me.  Hoot!  HOOT!  Take me home!  It was terrible!!!  I'd cringe and stalk quickly out the door of the store.  No looking back.  I'd say to myself with a new resolve. 

 

Well, that takes me up to the present day.  I had almost forgotten about my old owl obsession until I heard an owl hooting a couple of months ago.  The window was open one night to let in some cool, dry air.  I had a restless night of crazy dreaming.  I rolled over and sat up in bed.  What was that?  Hoot Hoot!  I got out of bed and made my way in the dark to the window so I wouldn't wake up my husband Paul.  The soft sound of an owl hooting from a tree down the street called my name.  Hoot.  Hoot.  There was another owl calling back from further down the street.  Must be mates, I thought.  Standing by the bathroom window, I strained to listen again.  The owl's call grew louder.  It sounded like the owl was right in my backyard.  I crept to the bedroom window to get a better view of the yard and deck.  I heard a flutter, saw a shadow, and strained my eyes to see into the dark.  Staring right back at me, a great horned owl sat calmly on the railing of our deck.  Its head seemed to turn the whole way around.  I love the way owls do that.  We looked at each other one last time before it flapped and cruised silently out of sight. 

 

The next day, I knew I was hooked again.  But, this time, I went upstairs to my studio and started sketching.  My first of four paintings started with the great horned owl.  Since then, I have enjoyed photographing owls in museums, at the zoo, and a taxidermy shop.  Reading up on owls has been a hoot as well.  As long as I live, I know this about myself.  I'll always give a hoot for owls. 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Love,

 

Cindy

 

 

 www.CindyMorawski.com