ABOUT THE ARTIST
Cynthia Dvorak Grandjean is a native Texan and recently retired from the nursing
profession, now having more time to explore her creativity.
She paints almost daily in her impressionistic style. Recently she has enjoyed painting smaller abstracts with line work using charcoal as well as delving into the exciting challenge of plein air painting.
She began taking art lessons in 1983, painting as time allowed. She then took a break from her time at the easel to raise her two sons.
As the boys grew and more time opened up in her busy schedule, she heard her creative muse calling and began painting once again.
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As a visual artist she paints intuitively, creating beautiful, soulful paintings in acrylic, watercolor, collage and oil. She paints almost daily creating abstract and impressionistic pieces. She especially enjoys painting florals and more recently, plein air landscapes. She has been entering juried shows since 2012 and has won many awards. She won an Exemplary Art Achievement award at the Lone Star Art Guild 2017 Convention. Cynthia received a Star Award in 2018 from the Brazosport College Small Business Development Center. Her watercolor painting entitled Heron #2 won third place at the 2020 Texas State Master Naturalist Virtual Convention Art and Media Contest. She won the People's Choice Award at the Brazosport Art league's 2022 People's Choice Show for her painting "Forging Ahead #2".
She is mostly self taught but has taken workshops and classes locally, in the Houston area, as well as online with several national and internationally known artists such as Adele Sypestyn, Tracy Verdugo and Albert Handell. She is a member of The Brazosport Center for the Arts and Sciences and The Live Oak Art Center in Columbus , TX.
She enjoys participating in activities and membership in the Brazosport Art League, the Outdoor Painters Society, the National Society of Artists, Art League of Bay City/Matagorda County, as well as the oldest art league in Texas, the Galveston Art League. One of her great joys is giving back to the community by donating art to her local church and the San Jose Clinic in Houston for charitable fundraising events throughout the year. She also teaches art classes at an Independent Living Facility as well as being a guest presenter at the local Teen Studio art program. She enjoys traveling.
She is a mother of two sons and enjoys spending time with her growing family of four grandchildren. She and her husband Victor live in Lake Jackson, Texas.
MY WHY
My art evokes a feeling of happiness. It is an intuitive process that develops and changes as I go along.
I enjoy the glazes and drips of watercolor, never knowing what will develop. That is an exciting part of the process! I strive to create art that is colorful, with texture, warmth and vibrancy inviting one to stop and take a closer look. It evokes the feeling of happiness that resonates within me.
Many times my paintings have marks or symbols that have special significance to me. I paint my story. I write messages, bury script in the multiple layers of acrylic work using a veiling technique which allows some of the script to show through. This allows me to put my feelings into my art.
I find inspiration all around. It could be a travel experience, music, a story, or a scene from nature that I photographed... I see the possibility for a painting in my mind’s eye and quickly put my brush to canvas or paper.
I have found art to be a creative and soothing process. It helps me to grow as a person.
The colorful art that I create makes me smile and that is my greatest joy!