Night Moves---ART Urbanscapes--Energy and Colors of the BIG City

Night Moves
9x12 Painting
Sept. 2013~~Cindy Morawski


 How the Night Moves

I started humming Bob Seger's music when I began my Night Moves painting recently.  It's one of my all-time favorite Seger songs.   Bob's lyrics rhyme moves with  lose and blues--for me, it all sums up the energy and passion of city nightlife.  I love the reflecting colors of the traffic lights, automobile tail and headlights, advertising neon signs, and more.  Here's the last verse of my tribute to Seger. 

 

 

I woke last night to the sound of thunder

How far off I sat and wondered

Started humming a song from 1962

Ain't it funny how the night moves

When you just don't seem to have as much to lose

Strange how the night moves

With autumn closing in.

 

----------Bob Seger, Last song verse to Night Moves

 

 

This past summer, I photographed several city scenes at night.  My painting is based upon those photos.  I tried to keep my art style loose and impressionistic.  I also wanted to give voice to the excitement of all those bright colors and the energetic movements of the traffic and people. 

 

"With autumn closing in" (Bob Seger), I'm also aware of seasonal changes and my focus on Fall Art Shows.  You're invited to my Fall Art Show and Reception through TAG at the Emily Morgan on E. Houston Street-- this Wednesday evening on September 18th, 2013.  Here's a postcard invitation:



 

Another September art event that's coming up soon is the Comfort Art Walk.  It's taking place this Saturday, September 21st, all day.  I'll be doing an art demo in front of the Comfort Crockery, 402 Seventh Street, where some of my art is currently on display.  I'll also have a trunk show available with extra art cards and prints.  Artists from the  Texas Pastel Society will also be represented in front of the old theater in downtown Comfort with art demos and artwork for sale.  Hope you'll join me and the Texas Pastel Society!

 

 

"I woke last night to the sound of thunder."  (Seger)  Well, for me, I heard the happy sound of thunder today when I watched the rain coming down.  I was eating lunch at the Emily Morgan Hotel's restaurant after my downtown art installation in the hotel's library.  The wind kicked up.  The trees were leaning sideways.  The rain came pouring down.  My friend Maria and I were glad we were inside-- looking out.  Safe in a comfy restaurant booth by a large window.  Happily, with the September rains, my yard is starting to look green again.  Now, if the autumn cooler weather can blow in, San Antonio will be all set!

 

 

Hope to SEE you in SEPTEMBER!  Happy Autumn 2013!  ~~Cindy

 

 

www.CindyMorawski.com

 



 *PS:  Two More of my Cityscape Paintings -- a closer look at E. Houston Street in downtown San Antonio.

         
Left:  Sunset on E. Houston
Right:  Night on E. Houston 

 

ART HARVEST---Happy Labor Day!

Apple Harvest

8x10 Pastel Painting

~~Cindy Morawski

 

 

One of my favorite stops on my August trip to Ohio was Gervasi's Vineyard.  My Cousin Nancy and her husband Dave, plus Paul and I lunched at the Bistro, an outdoor café along a beautiful lake near Akron.  We hiked around to check out the landscape, and on our way back we walked through a small orchard with fruit trees, mostly apples and pears.  I looked up at the shiny--red apples in their dark green foliage and knew I spotted perfection.  I was also reminded of Sunday childhood walks with my mother and brother through neighborhood apple orchards in our farming community in Pennsylvania.  October also wouldn't have been complete as a kid without some apple bobbing at Halloween.  I can still remember those sweet, crisp red delicious apples from Dawson's Orchards.  It was worth getting my head soaked in a cold tub of water while apple bobbing to get one of those pieces of fruit.  More good apple memories!  This Fall, I'm looking forward to visiting Medina, the apple capitol of the Texas Hill Country.  They usually celebrate their harvest with an Apple Festival, complete with all things apple--pie, ice cream, apple butter, and more.   

 

 

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

 

 

Need an art card for a birthday or other special event?  I have created a variety of art cards featuring my original paintings.  They cost $3.50 each, and you can save if you get 4 or more; they then only cost $2.50 each.  Each card is signed and has the artwork's title.  Of course, they come with envelopes too.  I have cards available at my home studio, or I can ship them to you.   Here's my contact email:  cski02@sbcglobal.net.  And, here's my website:  www.CindyMorawski.com.  You can preview my paintings in my gallery link, and then decide which cards you'd like. 

 

 

FALL  ART  Shows

 

• Texas Pastel Society's Art Show--Tobin Library--Sept. through Oct. 12
• TAG Art Shows at the Hotel Valencia and the Emily Morgan Hotels, downtown San Antonio, both shows run from mid-Sept. and last for 3 months . . . wine & cheese reception at the Emily Morgan, Sept. 18th, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.  You're invited!
• Comfort ArtWalk in Comfort, TEXAS--Saturday, Sept. 21st--I'll be at the Comfort Crockery, 402 Seventh Street, with a Demo and Trunk Show.  I also have an art exhibit in this gallery & art store. 
• 27th Annual SA Fall Home and Garden Show--Oct. 4--6--at the Alamodome, look for my display with the Texas Pastel Society
• Tent Art Show, at my home/ studio, 8603 Waldon Hts., SA--Oct. 12, 9 to 2--Come visit and see what's new!
• Zion Arts Festival, November 2, 1604 and Braun Rd., 10 to 5
• 25th Annual Wolfson House Christmas Arts & Crafts Show, 415 Broadway, SA, Nov. 18 to 22, 10 to 6.

 

 





Remembrance~~2013 Summer Paintings and More

Remembrance, a 16x20 July Pastel Painting (SOLD!)

by Cindy Morawski

2013 Summer Paintings and More

I have had a busy summer so far.  June's art roadtrip, July's art lessons, and my summer studio painting sessions have provided inspiration, perspiration, and education.  I also installed a Solo Seasons art show at the Universal City Library last week in the library's reading room.  I'm presently preparing for a mid-August art show ---  Old Town Helotes Fine Art Show, August 17 & 18, 2013, at The Gardens in Helotes, Texas.  For more details check out my postcard ad on the previous blog posting.   Above and below are some of my summer paintings that I'd like to share with you.  Thanks for taking the time to read this and view my work. 

Petals on the Water  ~~Summer Painting by Cindy Morawski~~

 

 

Yellow Wagon Wheel, a 5x7 painting inspired from one of my summer stops, Fort Davis

Desert Blooms, 8x10 painting of a century plant discovered in West Texas this past June

Driving to Albuquerque  (SOLD!)

11x14 Pastel Painting inspired from my Summer Roadtrip to New Mexico

Hope you are having a good summer!  Please feel free to contact me at my studio:  210.522.0706, by email: cski02@sbcglobal.net, or on Facebook--Cindy Morawski.  Hope too that you'll check out one or more of my summer art shows.  I have a link on my website listing them:  www.CindyMorawski.com.  

I would appreciate you sharing my blogs or liking my artwork on Facebook.  My small art business is growing, and with your help, it will continue to move on up.  Thanks!                                                       ~~Cindy

August ART News~~Fine Art Show coming up mid-month

You are invited!  My juried art will be exhibited and for sale during this show.  Hope you'll join me!

www.CindyMorawski.com

August Art News

Summer Tweet~~Birds of Texas

Red-Winged Blackbird

Montezuma Quail

Yellow-headed Blackbird



Summer Tweet
Birds of Texas
by Cindy Morawski

Tweet!  From our moving car, I watched the birds perched on grasses and utility wires along the highway and flying across the big Texas sky.  I was mesmerized.  One of my first stops on my recent road trip--Caprock State Park in the Texas Panhandle--involved a hike and then a plein air painting session.  After a late start, I felt the hot sun beating down on me.  I decided to paint under the protection of a picnic pavilion.  An angry bird made itself known immediately.  Chirp!  Cheep!  I looked up to see tiny, fluffy heads of baby birds in a corner nest under the roof ~~trying to get Mama Bird's attention.  The swallow swooped over me and then out.  Oops!  I didn't want to disturb lunch for these little ones.  I moved on. 

 

 

Driving across the Panhandle, I couldn't help but notice the endless fields of wheat.  Some areas were being harvested by combines the size of a city block.  Nearby, I spotted the blackbirds, seed-eaters who take advantage of the fallen wheat.  After photographing them, I decided to later paint them in my studio on my return.  The red-winged blackbirds reminded me of my childhood.  I grew up on a farm in Western Pennsylvania, and I'd see them every summer near our pasture and wetlands.  I always liked their calls and bright flashes of red when they flew by. 

 

 

The Montezuma Quail is a West Texas bird,  I noticed it on our return from Albuquerque.  We drove through Van Horn, Fort Davis, and Marfa.  Lots of territory for birds of every kind!  These particular quail only weigh about 6 ounces and are the smallest quail in North America.  They really stand out though due to their white-spotted wing feathers.  I thought they were beautiful and aptly named.  Real Royalty!

 

 

My bird paintings will be on sale at an upcoming event.  The Randolph Metrocom Rotary Club Art Auction will take place on Saturday evening, July 20, 2013.  Here's the address: 

Garden Ridge Community Center, 9500 Municipal Parkway, Garden Ridge, TX.  There's more information online through the Rotarty Club's website and through Facebook.  Hope you'll join me!

 

 

www.CindyMorawski.com

 

Mockingbird Studio:  (210)522-0706

 

email:  cski02@sbcglobal.net

 

 



 

Beep! Beep! Spotted by a Roadrunner~~ Art Series of my Journey West



Texas Roadrunner

~~Cindy Morawski

 

 

Sometimes, I can't see the forest for the trees.  When I  recently roadtripped to Caprock Canyon State Park, in the Texas Panhandle,  I kept trying to spot those famous free-roaming buffalo.  There's a Texas herd that resides at Caprock.  I love the idea of the buffalo's triumphant return.  It always seemed like such a tragedy to me that they were practically wiped-out in the past, due to senseless overhunting.  As a kid, I remember reading about guys in the 1800's, sharp-shooting across the plains via a train ride.  Killing the buffalo just for sport.  And, with the Old West's infantry army trying desperately to round up the Plains Indians onto secured forts and reservations, wiping out the buffalo seemed one more guarantee of killing not just the buffalo, but also the spirit of a free people. 

 

So, I was craning my neck with camera in-hand.  I could see half a buffalo hiding behind a cedar tree.  Paul kept saying, "Hey, look through the park telescope.  You can see quite a few."  Gee, that seemed too easy.  Whew!  Meanwhile, getting back to not seeing the forest for the trees, a roadrunner almost ran into me while I was straining my eyes to see the buffalo.  I looked down.  Beep!  Beep!  The roadrunner was furtively speeding by in an attempt to get a desert lizard.  Paul came up behind me.  "Didn't you notice him trying to figure out whether or not to cross your path?" 

 

"No, I was too busy on the hunt for buffalo."  But, I guess, the roadrunner took pity on me.  He circled back so that I could get a photograph of him.  I thought the distant relative of the cuckoo was rather a handsome bird.  He wanted me to notice him.  I couldn't wait to start a painting!   Beep!  Beep! 

 

 

 

www.CindyMorawski.com

 

 

 

*PS:  If you'd like to take a summer art class with me, please give me a call or an email.  It could be for an hour or longer.  I can include a demo at your request.  My art classes will also include your supplies.  Here's my Studio phone number:  210.522.0706.  Email:  cski02@sbcglobal.net. 

 

 

*PSS:  The above painting is a 5x7 pastel portrait painting of a Texas Roadrunner.  It will include a beautiful gallery frame and glass for $75.