Daily Painting Projects~~New Summer Artwork

Moving toward Marfa, In Search of the Marfa Lights, 18x24

 

New Summer Artwork

 

 



Painting with Pastel.  It's the carrot that I dangle in front of me every day.  If I get the dishes and the laundry done, I get to go to my studio and paint.  If I run all my errands, when I return home, I get to draw and paint.  My challenge this past year:  Paint or create artwork every day.  I have had exceptions.  Travel and Art Shows.  Family, work or volunteer obligations of all types.  And, so on.  However, for the most part, I have met my goal.  I created artwork.  Some I managed to do in one day.  Others, took every day for a week or a month.  But, I painted.  The artwork that I'm sharing for the month of August has been created this Summer in 2015.  Inspired from my June road trip.  Portfolio of Photographs.  Home and neighborhood.  Daily Painting Projects.  Labors of Love.

West Texas Sunset, In Search of the Dragon, 5x7

Driving to West Texas and New Mexico in June with Paul inspired lots of ideas for artwork.  My photos and memories kept me going.  When I returned home, I felt feverish.  Couldn't wait to get started.  I had paintings in my head and I wanted to create them.  One of my stops was Marfa.  We searched for the Marfa Lights.  The desert landscapes beckoned.  Colorful skies.  Cactus and far-away vistas.  Birdsong.  Like traveling through a space odyssey's worm-hole, I felt adventurous and open to new places.




BIG Bend's Little Bear, 5x7 Black Bear Cub

 

Some folks volunteer in the community soup kitchen.  I choose to feed my neighborhood birds and wildlife.  They too need nourishment and a little help.  I also get the added pleasure of observing and sketching the birds and squirrels.  The painting below, SunCatcher, came from one of my yard birds, a lively red male cardinal.  After feasting on the sunflower seeds from my feeder, he took a break outside my kitchen window, and did some sunbathing.



SunCatcher, Cardinal ArtBird, 5x7

Bluebird Spotlight, 5x7 ArtBird

 



Sunflower Morning, 5x7 painting

Flowers.  How I love them.  I remember my grandmother, Frances Nesbitt, creating her own artwork.  A flower garden in the side yard.  One of the flowers that she grew were irises.  I noticed this past spring that purple irises were coming up in my neighbor's yard.  I asked if I could photograph and paint them.  He was delighted that I appreciated his flower garden.  He also told me that this iris is a new variety, Shaker's Prayer.  My flower portrait painting is now an 8x10, but when matted and framed, it will measure 11x14 when completed. 



Shaker's Prayer Iris, 8x10 Flower Portrait

Tower Fireworks, Celebrating over San Antonio, Commissioned Artwork

One of the advantages of showing my artwork in public spaces such as restaurants and cafes, is that people notice my work.  Sometimes I get commissions.  My Tower Fireworks painting was commissioned by Addison Martinez, a patron of the Candlelight Coffeehouse and Winebar Restaurant.  The Candlelight is also where over 30 of my paintings were on display for July and continue now through August.  Addison does creative writing, and he commissioned this to go with some of his writing about San Antonio.  Thanks, Addison!

August 2015~~Summer Art Show continues at the Candlelight on St. Mary's

Flower Me Florist & Gifts~~Art Display in my neighborhood shop

This summer I have been displaying my artwork at the River Art Gallery in LaVillita near San Antonio's Riverwalk, the Candlelight Coffeehouse on N. St. Mary's in SA, Flower Me Florist & Gifts in my Northwest Neighborhood, plus, outside of SA--in Castroville, Granny M's Creations, in Comfort--Comfort Crockery~~ Fine Art Gifts, and in Rockport--Yellow Rose Gallery.  Access to more info about these places is currently on my website:  www.cindymorawski.com.   Like/Friend me on Facebook.  I support two pages--Morawski Fine Art and Cindy Morawski.  Thanks!!!

 



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

 

 



 

Discoveries on my Journey West

Cotton Candy Sky
by Cindy Morawski

 

 

Looking up.   I did that a lot on my recent road trip to West Texas and New Mexico.  I studied the big open sky through our Honda's windshield and side windows as we whizzed down the highway.  I couldn't get enough of those beautiful cloud formations, bright colors, and moving compositions.  I felt enchanted by the western landscapes and wanted to keep them firmly in my mind and heart. 

 

 

Paul and I made several stops on our journey west.  We headed north and west to the Texas Panhandle.  One of our first stops allowed us to visit the wild and roaming buffalo herd at Caprock Canyons.  We also spotted some prairie dogs along the way.  They reminded me of  jack-in-the-box toys.  Up and down.  Pop!  Goes the prairie dog!   . . . or something like that.  Next, we embraced entertainment with the outdoor musical, TEXAS, a Musical Romance of Panhandle History, at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  I thought that musical was as big as Texas.  Cowboys and Indians on horseback, pioneers dancing and singing, and spectacular fireworks all helped to dazzle the audience under the star-filled sky in the canyon. 

 

 

Moving along on I-40, we then drove the truck-heavy, super-commerce highway from Amarillo to Albuquerque--my art destination.  I attended the IAPS Convention, International Association of Pastel Societies.  I represented the Texas Pastel Society of San Antonio.  With a juried exhibition, paint-out, banquet, trade show, and lots of stimulating classes, workshops, and demos, I felt like I died and went to a pastel painter's heaven!

 

 

One of my personal highlights was doing some plein air painting at the top of the Sandia Crest.  Paul and I snaked slowly up the Sandia Mountain, outside of Albuquerque, at 15 to 20 mph.  Finally, we looked over the crest.  It was a windy day, but the view seemed spectacular.  We were two miles high.  I could see forever!  I pulled out my pastel box and supplies after finding a good spot to paint and got lost in the mountaintop landscape. 

 

 

After saying good-bye to New Mexico, we checked out some of the sights in West Texas we'd heard about from friends.  The McDonald Observatory allowed us to see UT Austin's big telescopes on Mt. Locke.  I actually was allowed to move the Harlan J. Smith Telescope from north to south with the use of a button on a box.  Members of our tour group also found out about the emergence of the Space Age and NASA's need  for a new telescope to help them with the Apollo Mission. 

 

 

Fort Davis in the Davis Mountains was our final destination.  We journeyed back to the 1800's at the National Historic Site of Fort Davis.  The fort is a modern-day instructional tool to gather insight and admiration for the brave folks who served in the past.  Paul and I toured the enlisted men's barracks, the commissary, officer's homes, and more.  I imagined how encouraging that fort must have been to weary travelers and pioneers on their way west.  It represented protection and a much needed place of rest.

 

 

My road trip vacation served me well.  I felt inspired and renewed when I returned home.  I am currently planning my next series of paintings---  a study of western landscapes and its wildlife. 

 

 

Hope you can join me this Thursday.  I have three paintings in downtown San Antonio's Historic Emily Morgan Hotel's Art Showcase Summer Show.  The TAG art group is hosting a reception on June 20, 2013, in the Library of the Emily Morgan, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.  You are welcome to join us.  The art show will run through August.  All the artwork is currently for sale.  Please support your local artists.  Thanks.

 

 

www.CindyMorawski.com