By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
“I love using bright colors and creating art that brings joy to other people,” said artist Morgan Fisher. Her work focuses on tropical animals (mostly birds) and her color palette is filled with vibrant colors from the tropics.
She’s been drawing for as far back as she and her family can remember. Her love of sharing her ideas through drawings and painting was enhanced in middle school with a teacher who gave her extra encouragement and entered her work in competitions.
It was her art on display in the rotunda of the Texas Capitol that drew her father into focus on her talent. “Seeing your child’s art hanging in the Capitol is pretty special, and from there, I realized this was more than just something fun for Morgan,” said Todd Fisher, Morgan’s father.
Next step, as Houstonians, was applying to Hooton’s Visual and Performing Arts High School. She went through intense interviews and reviews of her work and was admitted as a visual art student.
While in high school, she was given a chance to take a performing art unit, but that wasn’t her interest. “I’m a little bit shy, so I prefer to work with my hands creating,” said Morgan.
Immediately after graduating in 2018, she applied to be an artist at From the Heart Gallery in Galveston and was welcomed into the family of artists and artisans.
It was during high school that she developed her love of sculpture and creating 3-D art pieces. She also began a father-daughter bonding activity that fed her inspiration as an artist. “We started going birding together just her and I. Occasionally, mom comes with us,” said Todd Fisher.
Along with bird watching with her father, she began to study the birds available on her school campus. “I would just spend time watching and coming to know the different characters of birds at school,” said Morgan.
Out of this, her clay bird figurines began to emerge. In the beginning, she made her clay birds with a type of clay that she later learned didn’t have a very long shelf life, and her creations would one day look like popcorn.
Polymer clay is now her chosen medium for her miniature figurines. “I spend about 45 minutes shaping the birds. Then I bake them in my kitchen oven for 25 minutes, and next I paint a few details such as eyes and brush on resin,” explained Morgan.
Her notebooks are filled with ideas for past and future figurines. So far, she estimates she has made more than 1,000 miniature figurines. Her work has drawn a collection of collectors.
“I used to collect ducks, but those take up too much space. With Morgan’s tiny creations, I’ve got a new collection of 60 of her clay birds,” said fellow artist, Christina Youdon-Pfistershammer.
Not one of her sculptures is the same. She adds something different to each one so that a customer can purchase their one-of-a-kind bird knowing their sculpture is unique. As her skills grow, so too has the size of her sculptures, and she is now adding little items such as chains, beads, golf clubs and whatever item she feels will add to communicating the uniqueness of each clay bird.
Her clay birds might have a goldfish or a mermaid or maybe a ladybug or a frog sculpted onto the bird. She’s reaching even greater strides in her creations as she develops her birds into human characters such as a hunter, a knight or a court jester.
Though she is best known for her miniature figurines, Morgan is also a photographer.
She captures birds in her lens. Each bird seems to be having a private conversation with her and with the viewer. Her bird photography has a peaceful intimacy that she creates with minimal tools. “I really don’t know photography, I just point and shoot,” Morgan explained.
Her point and shoot style has drawn the attention of clients who have paid upwards of $500 for her prints.
Morgan constructs multi-dimensional pieces using paper-Mache. “Some of my paper-Mache is done with paper towels or tissue paper,” Morgan explained. “I now use clay to add more details to my paper-Mache pieces,” Morgan shared.
While she shares the joy of how she creates with interested individuals, her eyes light up and enthusiasm takes over as she speaks of the many species of birds that she has come to know. She knows their habitats, mating rituals, what they eat, and she knows where the best places are to see each species.
After years of coming to visit Galveston, Morgan now calls Galveston her home. Filling her dream of working as a full-time artist, she works in the gallery three days a week and does face painting at Pleasure Pier.
Somewhere in her lineup, she finds time to create an endless supply of figurines along with building her repertoire of YouTube videos and taking photos of the island’s vast species of birds. Her photography is also at Affaire’ de Art in Galveston.
1 comment
Very nice. You’re extremely talented. Thanks!