Students lasso rodeo art honors

Three Cy-Fair Independent School District students won best of show honors in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Program.

Their drawings and the works of five other CFISD honorees will be in the Hayloft Gallery at the show.

Cypress Falls High School junior Katelyn Miller, 16, won in the high school division with her colored-pencil drawing, "At Hand." Her art teacher is Lisa Van Etta.

When Miller was in eighth grade, she won best of show among Cy-Fair district middle school students.

When she walks across the stage at the upcoming School Art Awards ceremony, her winning piece will be projected on a huge screen.

Regarding her drawing of a cowboy who's set for a day's work, Miller said, "'Ready' sounded boring, so I called it 'At Hand.'"

"At Hand" advanced to the Grand Prix, the rodeo art show judging on Feb. 6 that selected about 50 drawings that will be unveiled at the annual Rodeo Art Auction on March 13. Last year, the Grand Prix champion was auctioned for a record $190,000.

Other artwork by CFISD high school students that qualified for the Grand Prix were gold medal winners "Country Delight" by Enelfa Alvarado, a senior at Cypress Lakes, and "Rattlesnake" by Amy Brackney, a Cypress Woods junior, along with "Country Gal," which earned Cypress Falls sophomore Jaydi Segura a Special Merit award.

The student artists will find out March 5 how their work fared in Grand Prix judging when auction lots are announced at the School Art Awards Ceremony, said Sarah Poole, HLSR's manager of advertising and media.

Best of show in the middle school division was won by Olivia McCrindle, 13, an eighth-grader at Spillane Middle School, whose art teacher is her mother, Lisa Bennett of Cypress.

McCrindle won for a colored-pencil drawing of her horse, Wendy. She drew "It's My Pleasure Wendy" from a photo that her uncle took of the horse last fall on the day McCrindle became its owner.

McCrindle said her victory has changed her career plans. "I was going to be a horse veterinarian, but now I guess I'm set to be an artist," she said.

Another eighth-grader, Madeleine Lewin of Smith Middle School, won a gold medal for her artwork, "Joey's Boots."

Cynthia Alfaro, a fourth-grader at Lamkin Elementary School, won best of show in the elementary division for her artwork, "Let the Wild One Run with the Wind."

Her teacher, Pat Barry said, "Cynthia is an amazing artist and a wonderful person."

Ault Elementary School third-grade student Matthew Barry won a gold medal for his painting, "The Western Ride."