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       
                                                      

 

 

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

 

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!





                 

TEXAS Hill Country Landscapes from our State Parks



When the Clouds Went over the Mountain,
Texas Hill Country View near Utopia


Painting Scenes from Texas
by Cindy Morawski

Last autumn, as I made a roadtrip stop near Utopia, Texas, I looked out over this landscape. The view came back to me in shades of blues, greens, and warm shades of gold. The sunshine was bright and beautiful, the sky~~ blue and dazzling, the clouds~~ puffy and on the move.  The clouds seemed carefee, and they easily crossed a nearby ridge of the Texas Hill Country, San Antonio's version of local mountains.  I photographed and sketched while there.  I remember the wind picking up.  I had to put on my jacket because the temperature had dipped.  It was a November afternoon when I was painting plein air.  Recently, I returned again to this Texas landscape in my studio.  It was a place of peace and happiness for me.  The sky and vista called my name. 

Clouds in the Creek,
Lost Maples Natural Area

I have a long list of interests in life, but one that not everyone would probably guess, would include stone or rock-skipping.   Last fall, I joined my grandkids, Andrew and Ari, in a little competition on the waters of Lost Maples Natural Area or Park.  We all searched for the perfect stones.  Ones that were thin, lightweight, and oval-shaped.  They had to be aerodynamic.  I had some experience in this hobby afterall.  I had started on the Little Beaver Creek in my childhood while growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania.  After I lined up my rock-skippers on the shoreline among the soft grasses, I took aim and threw.  One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . six skips!!  Jumping up and down, I felt like I'd won an Olympic event.  Whew!  Laughing, I looked up to cheer on the children.  Andrew, was that seven skips?  Way to go!  Ari, you're next.  You go, girl!  Let's skip across the clouds in the creek. 



Rooted in Long Shadows,
Garner State Park

I'm a big fan of our Texas State Parks.  Last year, I kept going over the parks that I had visited.  One Texas state park that I hadn't been to in awhile was Garner.  In November of last year, Paul and I, along with our dogs, Rusty and Phineas, spent an afternoon at this glorious park.  I brought along my camera and sketchbook and proceeded to snap, snap.  With sketchbook in hand, I noted the blue and purple shadows in the late afternoon along the river.  The leaves on the trees were slowly drifting down, reminding me that in another week, the bright shades of the reds, oranges, and yellows, would be gone for another year.  We hiked around that afternoon through the long shadows of the tall trees.  The dogs chased their ball, kicking up the scattered remains of windblown souvenirs.  Paul and I sat on top of a cement picnic table taking in the landscape.  I'd traveled to Garner mostly in the spring before.  This felt like a new and fresh adventure.  Recently, I wanted to capture this memory in my studio.  So, I took up my pastels, and started.  I examined my old photos, sketches, and notes.  The scene leapt to life.  I willingly returned to Garner. 

Happy Discoveries!

~~Cindy~~

www.CindyMorawski.com