MaryAnne Schweers made a trip to Comfort last Saturday, intrigued by the advertised Comfort Art Festival. She brought along her mother, Estelle, a regular to the Comfort area.
They were among the hundreds of festival-goers who meandered up and down the streets of historic downtown Comfort, viewing – and purchasing – art from the 30 Hill County and San Antonio area artists who set up shop as part of the annual arts fest.
“This will go perfectly in my house,” MaryAnne Schweers said of the piece she had just purchased from artist Teri Jo McReynolds. “I love the mountains and the aspens and I prefer abstract contemporary art, so this is kind of a mix that checks all the boxes for me,” she said.
Her mother, Estelle, came along for the ride and the day-trip, enjoying the breeze and cloud cover that kept things relatively cool for both the artists and attendees.
“I have been in Comfort all the time, my dentist is out here, so I frequent Comfort,” Estelle said. “But for the festival, the poppies I saw drew my attention.”
McReynolds’ poppies drew the mother- and- daughter combo to the Sept. 16 arts festival, where as many as 30 Hill Country and San Antonio area artists set up canopies and hung their art for the hundreds of passersby to see -- and buy.
“I like Texas scenes and outdoor scenes,” said McReynolds, who has a gallery in downtown San Antonio at La Villita and is in a gallery in Helotes. “I have to look at it. These are from my photos or actual paintings that I create.
Most of the work McReynolds presented in her space along High Street in downtown Comfort was created this year – although what to bring is sometimes a guessing game.
“This is a one-day show, so I grabbed what I had handy,” she said. “Other shows, I’ll spend more time painting for it.
“But you never know what’s going to sell. I might bring a piece that hasn’t sold for years, and someone will come along and go, ‘I love it.’ It’s all in the beholder,” she added.
Artist Cindy Morawski, from the northwest area of San Antonio, has work at the Blue Star as well as the River Art Gallery in downtown San Antonio.
“I’m here meeting old friends and making new,” Morawski said. “But the important thing is to support the businesses here in Comfort. I have been doing this for many years, helping out these shopkeepers as best I can.”
Morawski said she tries to bring “different price points,” pointing out the amount of framed art in comparison to cards on a gift table, smaller pieces hanging from a display grid, and prints available on her stands.
Most of her works are relatively new, within the past several months, if not just the past month.
“I do nature, that’s my thing. That doesn’t change,” she said. “I am composing as I am looking at it. I have favorites, I like certain types of wildlife – the armadillo for instance, and I’ve been a birder all my life. In terms of landscapes, you just can’t go wrong (down in) Big Bend.”
She said she enjoys “going out and painting on scene. While I’m there I try to draw and sketch or paint while there.”
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