Postcards to Autumn:

A Harvest of Color in Nature

 

by Cindy Morawski

 

 Every year I get a thrill of excitement.  It starts around mid-September and gets stronger as October begins.  What's the big deal? -- you might say.  For me, it begins with the First Day of Autumn.  And, it continues as the season rolls us into thoughts of cooler weather, colorful trees, pumpkin patches, and the welcome approach of the holidays

Still Life, Autumn Harvest, Pumpkins and Squash

 I have celebrated the Autumn Season this year with a series of paintings.  The first one is a still life of a pumpkin and its cousins, the squash.  I placed them on a colorful table with a dark background to help them stand out.  The pumpkin is symbolic of the harvest of food and fun.  I can't wait to eat some pumpkin pie and pick out a pumpkin for Halloween. 





Distant Fall Journey



Last Fall, I traveled to Utopia to paint.  One of the vistas of the Texas Hill Country that really caught my eye was the view of autumn colors in the foreground, beckoning distant hills, and dancing white clouds in the sky.  I enjoyed my day out surrounded by the beauty of nature.  I parked my car by the roadside and looked out over the valley.  It was a moment that I wanted to keep re-living, so I decided to paint it. 


I painted Return to Garner to help me celebrate the New Year of 2012.  Paul and I stopped at Garner last November around Thanksgiving and enjoyed the park on a gorgeous late Fall day.  The bald cypress trees stood so elegantly in silhouette.  The autumn foliage in the background embraced the warm colors of orange, gold, and red.  The Frio reflected the colors back to us.  It was a postcard of hope and beauty.  I won't ever forget that wonderful day.



 One last postcard to Autumn belongs to my painting entitled Rooted in Long Shadows.  I also discovered this landscape at popular Garner State Park in Uvalde County.  The bright colors of the trees first drew me in.  The shadows of the trees reached out along the ground to touch me.  I walked into the afternoon's dapple of sunlight and shadows.  Standing still, I fell into the spell of opposites.  A true land of enchantment. 

                                                    

Garner Revisited







Rooted in Long Shadows       
                                                      

 

 

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FALL Art Shows

October 2012

 

• Candlelight SA Cafe, Season's Solo Show, all month, 3011 N. St. Mary's St.
• Bijou Cinema Bistro, all month with SAVA Gallery Artists, 4522 Fredericksburg Rd. at Wonderland of the Americas Mall,
• River Art Group Members Fall Competition and Sale, Oct. 5--7, SA's LaVillita, 25% of sales go to Wounded Warriors
• Texas Pastel Society's National Juried Show, Oct. 19--Nov. 2, Art Inc Gallery on 9401 San Pedro 
• Texas Hill Country Invitational, Oct. 19--21, Cana Ballroom at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Boerne

 

www.CindyMorawski.com

 

Happy Autumn!





                 

A Change of Seasons, New Paintings from Cindy Morawski

Bandelier Monument

Turquoise Door

Late Night at the Pumpkin Patch

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A Change of Seasons

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Running and laughing down the greenbelt trail with my dogs yesterday marked a celebration. It was the first day of fall in San Antonio. A cool front moved in finally. The rain forest mugginess of the last two weeks lifted, and it was cool and dry when I opened the garage door with Rusty and Phineas beside me at the end of their leashes. The forecast said it was going to be comfortable. Yeah, they got this one right! The chilly air sent goosebumps up my spine. Champagne weather! I felt ready to drink it all in.

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As I dodged the rocks and uneven surfaces on yesterday morning's trail, I was jarred into a sudden shift in time. I remembered jogging down a muddy Gilmore Road when I was twelve and living on my family's dairy farm in Pennsylvania. My feet felt lighter than air without my winter boots weighing me down. It was the first day of spring and our farmland was just beginning to thaw out. Mud had replaced the snow, but that wasn't going to keep me from wearing my tennis shoes. No more boots for awhile. It reminded me of all those times at the East Palestine Roller Rink when I'd take off my roller skates at the end of a fun skating session, walk out of the building into the parking lot, and have the distinct sensation that I was floating over the ground. I felt that light.

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Living in South Texas decades later, I can still appreciate the change of seasons. No matter that my longings have shifted from spring to fall. I can still celebrate the joy of liberation from oppressive weather and the ability to play or work outside without suffering like a martyr. Just like years ago, I've made it through another tough season, but this time it's not a long, cold winter; this time it's a long, hot summer. So bring on the pumpkins, the falling leaves, the chill in the air. I'm ready! I'm going to give thanks for the change in seasons.

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To celebrate the seasons, I included an earlier fall painting entitled Late Night at the Pumpkin Patch. I also included two recent works from a past trip to New Mexico. Turquoise Door is a scene from Canyon Road in Santa Fe, and Bandelier Monument revisits my love of that natural shrine in the setting of one of our nation's national park treasures near Santa Fe.

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Happy Autumn Days!!!

~~Cindy