Update: Cross Creek Ranch Fine Arts Festival a Success

April 27, 2010

Cross Creek Ranch's inaugural Fine Arts Festival was a GREAT success!  Drawing crowds from Katy, Sugar Land, Heights, and Fulshear close to 2,000 patrons visited 75 exhibitors.  Photos from the event can be viewed on the Cross Creek Ranch  Flickr Profile.

Seventy-five local and out of area artists showcased everything from oil paintings, pottery, mosaics, jewelry, metal sculpture, photography, to wood carving.  In addition to fine art the festival offered other exhibitors such as Cammies handmade soaps, Dave Laufenberg selling the Finest and Freshest Gourmet Olive Oils from the World Famous Olive Groves of California, and Norman Fekete showcasing Gourmet Preserves with his famous Pecan Pie in a Jar! Art enthusiasts enjoyed listing to live music all day by Melissa Polka a Katy native, Kenneth Scott, Jon Hogan  Band, and Robin Kirby.

The festival also introduced a newly-organized group of local artists. Katy Area Artists is a network of artists and patrons focusing on educational, mentoring and exhibition opportunities for adults in the Katy area.  Imagination Campus, located on FM 1093 is a premier eco-healthy child development and enrichment facility with a strong emphasis on imaginative play and high quality instruction was onsite as well to inform the public on their summer camps and assist children in hands on activities channeling their inner artist.  Children made sand art masterpieces as well as their very own Cross Creek Ranch owl.

Art on wheels showed a different way of artistic expression!  The Mermaid Gypsy art cars as well as four other highly creative art cars were on display for everyone to see.

Gerald and Kathy McArthur came to the festival looking for art to decorate their new Seven Lakes home. They said they found what they were looking for "and then some."

"We really wanted to find a couple of paintings, but there's so much here I think we'll probably pick up some other things for the house," Kathy McArthur said.

Houston artist KiKi Neumann creates wood and mixed-media art made out of hurricane wood.  Her biggest hit of the day were her angels, "My angles are latterly flying away," Neumann said.

"The stuff here is just absolutely beautiful. There's so much more here than I expected," an art enthusiast from Katy said.

In addition to Neumann, other Katy residents taking part included Susan E. Russell with illustrations for Trendmaker; Andy Gonzalez showed oil paintings on canvas and linen; Gabriela Monterroso exhibited oil paintings; Mike Peyton displayed mixed media on gourds, canvas and paper; Delton Gerdes displayed watercolors and Adriana Whitney showed paintings and fiber and clay dolls.

Additionally, Nita Risher McGlawn exhibited mixed media paintings; Lois Morton showed mixed media collages; Vivian LeFlore Mora displayed paintings; Vanessa Sosa exhibited her photography.