The proprietors of West Sandy Creek Winery invite you to their first art market on Saturday, July 12, from 1-7 p.m. Art & Vine will feature 15 unique artists from Walker County and the Houston Metroplex, great food from Saucy on the Fly, and musical guest Byron Haynie.
Event admission is free. Please register in advance for Art & Vine: WSCW Art Market on the website to ensure that adequate seating and staff are available to serve you in the tasting room.
The curated show and market, organized by artist and graphic designer Natalie Shipula, promises to be the first of many events at WSCW that continue to support local artists. Guests can expect a great mix of fine art paintings, curiously edgy mixed media pieces, fused and blown glass, pottery, and so much more by artists from along the I-45 corridor and beyond.
Natalie Shipula is the Senior Graphic Designer in the HEALTH Research Institute at the University of Houston. She is also pursuing her master’s in arts management at the University of Oklahoma and will be graduating this December.
Shipula hand-selected each artist for this event due to their unique talents. The roster for Art & Vine includes highly respected potter Carol McGinnis, who is well known in the area for her vintage-inspired stoneware. Houston-based ceramic artist Michelle Ellis incorporates seeds, shells, and other natural elements that look like they are something plucked right out of nature.
“The Yankee Woodturner” Ron Martel, maker of all-natural wooden creations like wine goblets, bowls, and one-of-a-kind urns that could become family heirlooms. Shealey offers oil paintings that draw from human emotions and designs artwork that evokes thought and creates stories for the viewer.
Artist Carolyn Coates is known for a Post-Impressionist style depicting nature, animals, and classic still life studies. Zoe White is a popular Texas painter known for her bold, abstract impressionist florals, taking her inspiration from natural growth cycles of live plants as they bloom.
Jo Edwards is an oil painter whose works feature unique compositions of out-of-the-ordinary color palettes of realistic trees, flowers, and waterside scenes. Studio glass artist and University of Houston alumnus Eric DePan’s pursuit of glass has led him to contracts in Fairbanks, Alaska, Murano, Italy, Kobo Glass in Toyama, Japan, and Augusta Glass Studio with Sam Stang and Kaeko Maehata.
Miriam O’Brien of PaperMolas shares her Panamanian culture of “mola, a textile art from the Guna Indians” by creating digital prints similar to that art style. Artist Hannah Bladh romanticizes cityscapes, still lifes, and portraits of everyday life on canvas, appreciating these simple yet beautiful moments. Jeff Lung is a trilingual Fulbright scholar and self-taught artist whose figurative abstract expression is inspired by a lifelong obsession with filling space through form and emotion.
Aimee Kudla’s ceramic pieces reflect her admiration for nature. Among her different collections, she designs mountains, draws, and carves birds, flowers, and fruits, using different techniques to add unique details. Veteran artist Sue White, known as My Glass Lady, creates fused glass pieces “with an eye for detail and a feel for color” that she says touch her soul. Our youngest featured artist, Bella Trevino, is a 22-year-old artist who brings joy to others with her bright, abstract floral paintings.
The lush grounds at West Sandy Creek are in full bloom right now, making this a perfect time to visit the winery and stock up on their award-winning wines. The 360-acre property sits right on the edge of the Sam Houston National Forest in Richards, Texas. Founded on a decades-long love of wine and winemaking, the family-owned and operated business features a lovingly cultivated vineyard, tended by veteran viticulturist Fritz Westover.
Each season at harvest, they employ some of the best winemakers in the region as guests to craft new vintages from their ever-evolving selection of grapes. Their 2024 Lenoir Blush is a wonderful example of the winery’s mission: To create wine that their customers love.
This is a perfectly balanced wine, made from a grape that was grown specifically for West Sandy Creek’s clientele. Carefully coaxed from a garnet juice into a delightfully drinkable wine, it pairs well with sweet and savory as well as spicy and tart flavors. They also carry an impressive selection of imports, primarily from small wineries in Spain and France.
The tasting room at WSCW opens at noon Thursday through Sunday, offering highly attentive customer service, live music on weekends, and thoughtfully prepared light fare. The menu has more than 30 labels, primarily from their estate-grown grapes, supplemented by hand-selected imports from small and large wineries across the globe. Available for purchase by the flight, glass, or bottle, they also ship to 43 states through VinoShipper.
Overnight accommodations are available in one of their rustic luxury cabins or on the grounds for Harvest Hosts members and include access to feed their exotic animals.
For more information about West Sandy Creek Winery, visit www.wscwinery.com.
For more details on events and special accommodations, contact the winery directly at 936-436-9050 or email the staff at [email protected].
Leave a Reply