Looking Homeward, Texas Landscape Paintings

Cattle Guard at the LBJ Ranch

by Cindy Morawkski

Texas Homestead
by Cindy Morawski

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Looking Homeward
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While recovering from the flu and trying hard to take it easy, I thought of similes for this dreaded illness. I didn't want to completely succumb to becoming a human vegetable. So, I started with this. The flu is like hot sauce. It stays with you longer than you'd planned. It works on your sinuses. Have lots of kleenex handy! It can take away your appetite when applied in large doses. The list continued. The flu is like Alaska. Its fever's chills make you feel like you're in a cold and dark winter place. After several days with the flu, you not only resemble a grizzly bear, an Alaskan beast in the wild, but you have an attitude like one too. Hear me roar! Blue from the flu. And that was only the first week. Week two made me fantasize about being granted only one wish by my magic genie. Guess what that would be? Good HEALTH!

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I also started thinking about what I'd like to paint when I got over the flu. I decided to start at home with Texas. The above scene is taken from Johnson City. If you visit the LBJ Ranch, there's a 19th century homestead that you can visit. Living history is available through volunteers who dress and recreate farm life from the past. Chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep are also a part of the domestic scene. A vegetable garden provides food for the farm. Volunteers make lunch using the fresh produce right out of the garden. Everything's organic and homegrown. Sounds familiar, huh? Good ideas often get recycled.

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Another familiar scene at the LBJ Ranch involves the familiar wide open spaces of a working Texan ranch complete with beef cattle. The LBJ cattle happen to be Herefords or whitefaces. I recognized them right away because I grew up with white-faced Herefords on our farm. Curly white hair on their broad heads and dark rusty-red, stocky bodies help them stand out when grazing in a green pasture. The Hereford breed originated in the county of Hereford in England. I also remember how adorable the young calves were on our farm. Their pint-sized spunky bawling kicks and head butts gave them a lively air. And when they affectionately licked my fingers and looked into my eyes with that dark-blue steady gaze, I was hooked. I didn't even try to resist them. The calves on our farm had two kinds of mothers--their loving whiteface mother and their human "mom"--little 'ol me. Getting hugged was just part of getting mothered as a calf by this farm girl.

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If you would like to purchase these Texas landscapes, just check out my website gallery. The sizes and prices will be listed. www.cindymorawski.com Better yet, come by and see them in person. Just call ahead for an appointment and you can visit my home gallery. 210-522-0706.

I'm back at work now and will be glad to give you a tour.

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Wishing you good health!

~~Cindy

Cindy Morawski

Mockingbird Studio and Gallery

Morawski Fine Art

cski02@sbcglobal.net

8603 Waldon Hts.

San Antonio, TX 78254