Cape Coral hosts its 26th Annual Art Festival

What a beautiful weekend for the Cape Coral Festival of the Arts in downtown Cape Coral Florida. There were more than 300 participating artists and food booths lining both sides of the Parkway. The event was put on by the Rotary Club of Cape Coral.  A variety of artists displayed everything from  paintings, pottery, metal art, stained glass, jewelry, sculptures, photography and fine crafts.  Many of the exhibitors agreed " This was one of the best shows ever!"



                                                                  

James Rasmussen

Jim and I

  I spent the better part of the two days walking up and down the rows of booths, meeting and visiting the artists.  One artist in particular I ran into is James Rasmussen, from Mount Prospect IL. He is a nationally recognized photographer and  future highlighted artist here at the Creative Chicks, scheduled in 2011.  So you can imagine my surprise... and his, when I walked into his booth and introduced myself! Jim specializes in unique images of popular American landscapes, cities and sporting teams, His awesome upbeat personality shows in everyone of his photographs.  I cant wait for you to get to know him. If you would like to see more of his work and can't wait for the interview you can visit him at http://www.razphoto.com/

Another artist I was very impressed with was jewelry artist Ann Finley, from Decatur, Georgia .  She is creator of"Barking Cat" Pet Pendants. "Barking Cat" jewelry are pet inspired designs for humans to wear.  These adorable designs with whimsical sayings are sure to win the heart of the pet lover in all of us.  She has another passion her "Art to Wear Jewelry"  This jewelry is created in sterling silver, gemstones and enamel and is absolutely stunning.  You can see more of her work on her website http://www.annfinley.com/.

There were many local artists also.  I immediately recognized Josanne McAfee,s work.  The Enchanted Fairy is an incredible collection of one-of-a-kind hand sculpted figures in polymer clay without the use of molds. Trust me... her pieces are incredible! If you missed her at the event you can enter into the enchanted world of fairies, mermaids, dragons, fairy houses complete with fairy twig furniture at http://www.josannemcafee.com/  Also, look for her at upcoming art shows and Renaissance Festivals. 

As I was leaving and everything was shutting down I ran into a well known local Fort Myers artist, Beth Collette.  She is famous for her best selling line "Bonefish Jewelry". I am proud to say I own one of her pieces and so do a great many friends of mine.  Each of her pieces are individually hand cut and assembled by her.  That means no two pieces are alike, which makes them very special.  She works from her waterfront studio in Fort Myers. You can purchase her pieces at  shops and galleries throughout the United States and England or on her website www.bethcollette.com

I hope you enjoyed a quick view into the Cape Coral Festival of the Arts.  There were so many talented, unique and interesting artists there and I would like you to meet them too, so I will compile stories on as many as I can and let you into their world here at www.creativechickscafe.com in the future.

 If you were at the event and have any suggestions please leave a comment at the end of this blog or send me an email at kate@creativechickscafe.com

Also, for more information and tons of pictures of the event you can go to http://www.capecoral.com/  to see more!

-Kate