46th Starving Artist Art Show on May 1 - 2

Reflections from the Bridge
Cityscape of Sligo, Ireland
--Cindy Morawski

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46th Annual Starving Artist Art Show

SAHA Park - 818 S. Flores St.

San Antonio, Texas

Saturday-Sunday, May 1-2, 2010

10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

"The SAAS was voted one of the 200 best art events in the U.S. by Sunshine Artist Magazine."

--John W. Miller

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You are officially invited to join me at the Annual Starving Artist Art Show in downtown San Antonio. It's this weekend from 10 to 6 at a new location -- more room and more shade! There will also be $3.00 entrance fee that's a fund raiser for the less fortunate which is sponsored by LaVillita's Little Church. Free Parking all day and bus and trolley service are available too!.

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I'm looking forward to participating in one of San Antonio's biggest art shows this year. I'll be showing and selling my original art, reproductions, and art cards. Look for me in my booth. I'll give you a 20% discount on any one item if you mention this! This will be a great chance to buy some affordable art for you and your family or to give as a gift, and it will support emerging artists and the fundraiser of the Little Church. Hope to see you there!

~~Cindy

Celebrating Earth Day with a New Landscape Painting

Group Photo with my Canadian Cousins at Lake Louise (I'm on the right, a younger version of me.)

Pinetop at Lake Louise

Landscape Painting of Western Canada by Cindy Morawski

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Happy Earth Day! Looking out my studio and office's second story open window this afternoon, I can see and feel the cool mist of April's falling rain and almost imagine being in Western Canada again. Paul and I traveled there about 10 years ago to hike, sightsee, and most importantly to visit with my Canadian cousins, the Bakers, in Alberta. We stayed in an old lodge near Lake Louise and Banff National Park and hiked twice with my Cousin Dawn and her three children. The first thing I noticed while hiking was that the steep elevation was doing a number on me. I'm not a mountain goat, but I thought I was in pretty good hiking shape when I was there; yet, I found myself huffing and puffing like the big, bad wolf in The Three Little Pigs as I climbed higher and higher on the trail. Gasping for air when I reached the thin, cool air of the summit, I looked out between the pine trees. I gasped again. This time it wasn't because of oxygen deprivation; I was shaken by the startling beauty of the scene before me. Lake Louise winked up at me with her lit reflections of tantalizing turquoise. The rugged mountain range in the background still sparkled with the past winter's freshness of snowcaps on those immovable giants. I peered out again, this time startling a crow from a thick branch overhead. Hotel Lake Louise seemed like a tiny replica from a toy train display of an alpine village. Even though I have had the good fortune to travel in the past to the German Alps, this New World scene gave me a heady certainty that I was a witness to something close to pristine and magical. Many goosebumps later, I finally recovered enough to fumble around for my camera in my forest green backpack and snap several photos. Gently laughing, my Cousin Dawn teased me that I'd been living in a big city for way too long! I guess, my visceral reaction to this majestic vista was rather apparent to my hardy cousins who had hiked and skied this area all year round. I stood rooted like the tall pine trees beside me. I needed to drink it all in. Like a thirsty runner after a marathon, I could not get enough. Suddenly, I could just picture me in a Master Card commercial. Buying all the necessary hiking and camping equipment, lounging by the massive fireplace in our lodge, and then conquering the mountain trail's summit. Priceless! Camera pans with a 180 degrees swivel to show that outdoor wonderland. And, of course, me standing there grinning from ear to ear like an idiot. Cut! It's a wrap . . .

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Last month I was clicking through my computer's picture files for composition ideas and inspiration, but I kept going back to the Banff and Lake Louise files. I had been wanting to paint something from that trip for awhile. Then, it happened. I sat riveted on my office max chair. The Lake Louise photo from above the pinetops on the vista trail held me like a junkyard magnet. Squirming, I broke loose. Memories came at me like a spinning roladex. The hike to the top looking out at Lake Louise was the one I was going to paint.

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This landscape painting entitled Pinetop at Lake Louise measures 18 by 23 double matted and framed. I used quality Colourfix rich beige Art Spectrum paper and mostly Terry Ludwig soft pastels. It will be available for sale through an upcoming exhibit of the Texas Pastel Society's All Member Show at San Antonio's downtown Carver Theatre, May 4 through the 30th. You're invited to our reception too. The art reception will take place on Thursday, May 6th, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Carver. If you have any questions, please email me at cski02@sbcglobal.net. I'll also be showing two other landscape paintings as well, Stopping by Reichert's Woods and Homestead and Heritage.

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Hope you have a green Earth Day! Don't forget to recycle, compost, and carpool when you can. It's the only planet we have for now!

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Love you, Mother Earth!!!

~~Cindy

Looking Back a Hundred Years, Homestead and Heritage, a Landscape Painting

Homestead and Heritage, a Landscape Painting

by Cindy Morawski

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I heard earlier this month that the drought in Texas is "officially" over. After driving on Loop 1604 this past weekend, I can believe it. I used the bluebonnet test for my measuring stick this spring. I found a sea of blue everywhere! Recently, I decided to check through my bluebonnet photos of the past. I clicked through my computer's picture files, and this is what I found. Last year's two photos showcased a group of only three random flowers in our community's greenbelt area. Of course, there were a few others in our greenbelt, but they had been nurtured. After lots of water, the protected ones finally bloomed. It was like looking at an endangered species in the zoo. That dang drought had done its damage! "What is that flower? Do you remember seeing it before?" I overheard someone say that as I was walking my dog down the greenbelt trail while shaking my head in disbelief. It wasn't until I went back three years ago into my picture files of 2007 that I found big-time bluebonnet evidence. My dog Phineas was surrounded in a thick blue carpet of neighborhood bluebonnets. I didn't have a small child handy to take a photo so I settled for my dog. Yikes! That drought did last a long time! Now I know why I appreciate this spring so much. I can't get over the many shades of green, the zillions of colorful wildflowers, and the gigantic weeds in my yard. It's truly amazing what a rainy season can do to San Antonio. After popping my allergy meds this past week, I've also said thanks every morning when I have awakened to all this beauty. Just Color My World!

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Therefore, with all this appreciation of nature going on, I decided to paint a tribute to Texas and to the Season of Spring through a landscape painting. Of course, I had to feature wildflowers, especially bluebonnets. I added trees, grasses, and a rural cabin along my horizon and entitled it -- Homestead and Heritage. Nostalgia, like Charles Dickens, can bring out the best of times and the worst of times. During the drought, I felt nostalgic for rainfall, all things green, and blooming flowers. And it just so happens that when I think of Texas history, I also get a little bit sentimental about log cabins and a simpler time. That's why I felt compelled to place the cabin in my painting.

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One of my favorite San Antonio landscape artists who happened to be a genius in painting bluebonnets was Julian Onderdonk. I saw his beautiful paintings in an exhibit featured at San Antonio's Witte Museum on Broadway awhile ago. In my opinion, one of his best was painted in 1912, "Bluebonnet Field." It features the Texas Hill Country in all its bluebonnet splendor. In 1912, San Antonio must have had a spring that rivaled ours. Onderdonk's spring paintings can also be a measuring stick that there was no drought going on in 1912. When you look at his art work, you can see a sea of blue in his bluebonnet landscapes. Almost a hundred years later, I can almost imagine how Julian must have felt gazing out at all those bluebonnets. Spring in Texas. Can it get any better than this?

When Road Met Sky, new spring landscape painting

When Road Met Sky

New Landscape Painting by Cindy Morawski

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Do you remember lying in the warm grass and looking at the sky's clouds when you were small? I do. Since I liked animals, I could spot an elephant or a dog immediately. That big sky and all those swirling clouds made me feel dizzy with life. I felt completely in awe of the world, but I also sensed that I was a part of something much greater than myself when I gazed upward.

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When I was driving north to Santa Fe, New Mexico, last spring, I just happened to get distracted. No, I wasn't yakking it up on my cell phone. And, I wasn't riveted by a favorite song on the radio. Nor do I send text messages while driving; I'd like to get to my destination in one piece. I was completely smitten with the sky! "Clouds in my coffee." I could hear Carly Simon singing in my head. After I drove out of Albuquerque, the highway flattened out for quite awhile. But, as I neared Santa Fe, the elevation started rising, and the road met the sky while I motored down a scenic back route. The clouds didn't signal bad weather. They just beckoned me to take another look. Hey! There's one that looks like a Volkswagon Beetle. And, over there . . . I'd swear that large puffy gray one looks like a giant dinosaur. It seemed that time stood still that day because before I knew it, I spotted the Santa Fe city limits road sign. That day I didn't mind having my head in the clouds!

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This landscape measures approximately 20 x 15 framed. It's also available in matted prints. I painted it with pastels on pastelbord. I started with a sketch, then moved onto a dry underpainting using hard pastels. Layering in my values and colors with soft pastels and adding details and perspective brought the road and sky scene to life.

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If you're looking for a Sunday outing on March 14th, try Boerne's Market Days in the town square. It goes from 10 to 5 each day. Every month's second weekend, the town of Boerne rolls out its Market Days on both Saturday and Sunday. There are lots of vendors with everything from tomato plants to cowhide rugs to paintings. There's also a band playing in the beautiful gazebo. Please look for me in my tent in the middle row, just a stone's throw from the gorditas, crepes, and other food vendors. I'll give you 2 dollars off your purchase if you mention this blog in honor of my "Luck of the Irish Sale" for St. Patrick's Day.

Happy Spring and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

~~Cindy

Watching the Olympics and Getting What Makes a Perfect Day

November Sunlight at Vanderpool,

Landscape Painting by Cindy Morawski

Photo of my Tent Camping at Lost Maples Natural Area

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Painting Gold

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Whish-sh-sh--ss! Turning too quickly on the uneven pond ice, I remember that scary moment of knowing I was going to fall. I grew up getting ice skates for Christmas so I could enjoy skating the frozen ponds and marshes in the pasture below our Pennsylvania farmhouse. After watching the women's figure skating on TV this past week at Vancouver's Winter Olympics, I not only have a whole lot of respect for triple toe jumps but also for skating backwards faster than a speeding locomotive. Yes, I've been reminiscing and romanticizing about snow and skating and sled riding in a cold climate that also forces you to plan like a war general when you venture outside to run to the store. As an adult, I know that life is easier when you don't have to battle those severe elements, but when I watch the winter olympics every four years, I'm suddenly propelled through time to long for that stinging wind on my face, eyes watering, as I race down an icy hill on my wooden sled. Memories are funny like that.

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I digress. I meant to get right to the perfect moment of a perfect day. I'm sure you've felt it before. It's like there is some kind of universal alignment to allow you, a mere human, a glimpse of paradise. That's what it must feel like when an olympic athlete gets it more than right. That moment in the spotlight with the gold medal, while you're hearing your national anthem play. There are all kinds of perfection. It doesn't have to be olympic gold. In fact, I felt it that day when I was hiking with Paul and my dogs Phineas and Rusty. We had just descended from the highest point in the park and were following the Lost Maples East Trail. I felt that late autumn warmth on my face as I turned the corner to suddenly view a pond of water that reflected the November sunlight. It beamed to me the reflective beauty of that perfect day. I couldn't have been happier. I had just been handed the gold medal! Whether the ponds are frozen or not, they still have a life-long attraction for me. Not the ocean, not even a lake. Just give me a little pond, and I am reassured that life is good.

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My landscape painting comes from that perfect day. I entitled it November Sunlight at Vanderpool. It measures 11 x 14 and so far is unframed. The setting is in Lost Maples Natural Area in Vanderpool, Texas, a great place to camp and hike. Come visit me at my home's gallery, and I'll show you my latest paintings, plus, offer you a cup of tea and a dollop of conversation as well.

Happy Trails!

Cindy

Visiting and Painting Bandelier Monument in NM

Landscape View from the Long House at Bandelier

Frijoles Canyon at Bandelier, Landscape Painting by Cindy Morawski

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Now I know how religious pilgrims must have felt when they arrived at their holy shrine. The awe. The reverence. The goosebumps. I too experienced many emotions and thoughts when I arrived at the Bandelier Monument in New Mexico. I tried to imagine the Ancient Pueblo People who once inhabited those cliffs. Looking out at the valley from above, gave me a sense of some of that.

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The late spring day in 2009 when I arrived at Bandelier Monument Park in New Mexico, any given weather report could have covered what was in store for me. It started out gray and overcast, then it turned to sleet and hail. Before it was all over, there was a little rain, a little sunshine, and a bit of snow too. Waiting beside the fireplace at the Visitor's Center wasn't unpleasant, but I was chomping at the bit to get out there and hike the Nature Trail and to take in all the glory of the Long House and the Talus House from the site of the monument. Thinking about the lifestyle of the Ancient Pueblo and the beauty of the surrounding canyons, valleys, and mountains gave me a pause for reflection and a prayer of gratitude.

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After killing time at the Visitor's Center, I finally had a chance to break free when the clouds parted and the bad weather left. I meandered down the trail, camera in hand, taking in one scene after the other. Getting to climb up into the old cliff apartments by ladder, made the wait worthwhile. Gazing out over the valley, I knew that eventually I needed to paint one of these landscapes.

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My landscape entitled Frijoles Canyon at Bandelier measures 14 x 18 with double mats and a Lexington wooden gallery style frame. My New Mexico scene was painted on Colourfix Art Spectrum sanded acid free paper with pastels. It is currently available for viewing and for purchase in my home gallery and Mockingbird Studio.

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Hope to see you next at the Zion Lutheran Church's Spring Arts & Crafts Fair on Saturday, March 6th from 10 to 4. The fair is located by the church on 1604 and Braun Road. I'll be in my tent outside of the recreation hall in the parking lot.

Happy Trails!

~~Cindy

On the Road Again, Depicting Travel with Three Landscape Paintings

~~Almost Home

~~Country Lane and Hiking the Hill Country, Landscape Paintings by Cindy Morawski

All Roads Lead to Painting for Me

"Take me home, country road, to the place I belong" . . . I remember listening over and over to those lyrics in John Denver's song one time on a past road trip. Robert Frost's poem, The Road Less Traveled, reminds me of journeys I have taken, but it also reminds me of ones that I'd like to take. When I painted Almost Home, I was reminded of commutes that seemed endless and exhausting. I couldn't wait to get home. I'd look for my exit and beam when I finally arrived! It also speaks of vacations by car that go for miles. The time away is mostly fun, but on the way back, you just want that long drive to be over with. For those of you who know me well, you are more than likely familiar with my love of hiking. Give me a country lane or trail with time to hike and explore, and you will find one happy woman! My paintings entitled Country Lane and Hiking the Hill Country represent that inner appreciation of nature and hiking.

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In regard to the technical side of my art, here's some information that might interest you. These paintings were created on Art Spectrum sanded paper with pastels. Almost Home and Country Lane both measure 14 x 18 framed, and Hiking the Hill Country comes with a decorative gold frame and measures 9 x 12. They are available and for sale through my online and home galleries.

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If you'd like to see more of my art, please feel free to also check out my work at the Comfort Crockery at 402 Seventh Street in Comfort, Texas. It's an historic building that's been renovated into a beautiful gallery and shop that features fine art and useful original art. Plus, I'll also be a part of the Helotes Market Days on the first Saturday of March from 10 to 5 in booth #76 by the music tent. And, please don't forget, just call for an appointment (210.522.0706), and you can come by for refreshments and a gallery tour in my home at 8603 Waldon Hts. in San Antonio. I have original framed art, matted art prints, and art cards available for sale at affordable prices. If you mention seeing this online, I'll even give you a 20% discount.

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Hope all your roads lead to good places! Happy Trails!!! ~~Cindy