Huntley man uses toothpicks to create works of art

To most people, a toothpick is just a toothpick - a primitive implement to clean your teeth or use as an accessory in a rap video.

But for Huntley artist Cesar Vega, toothpicks are a medium - the scaffolding and ornamentation for the elaborate handmade models he builds, toothpick by toothpick, in his modest house in the Sun City retirement community.

Since he retired in 1994 because of an illness that slowly eats away at his joints, Vega, 72, has pursued art as his full-time preoccupation, typically spending eight hours every afternoon and evening assembling toothpick models in painstaking detail.

At the moment, Vega, a Peruvian-American who goes by the handle "Inca De La Vega," is working on 55-inch model of the Eiffel Tower.

He doesn't require much to get started. All he needed was a picture from InTouch Weekly that shows actor Hugh Jackman posing in front of the Parisian landmark. Vega filled in details from the tower's official website.

Vega, a retired computer and mechanical engineer, starts by drawing a scale model of the tower on paper. He then uses household cement to glue toothpicks together until he brings his drawings to life. So far, he has used almost 2,000 toothpicks to create his Eiffel Tower, a project that has occupied him for a month.

Many of Vega's projects have a shorter lead time. He created models of several antique cars - including a 1920 Rolls-Royce and a 1931 Ford - from pictures in a calendar. Each model took about a week to finish.

When Vega is not building his models, he works the graveyard shift at his local Walmart. He says he needs the job to pay his wife's medical bills, which stem from a work-related injury.

Vega arrived in the United States in 1964, about six years after her started pursuing art seriously. He worked for a year in a luggage factory before entering military service. Vega had agreed to enlist in the Navy in order to get a visa to work in the United States. During his enlistment, he supported operations in Vietnam.

"I don't want to talk about it," Vega says of his wartime experience. "It's too sad for me."

After a four-year stint in the Navy, Vega married his wife, Gladys, attended Roosevelt University and worked as a computer or mechanical engineer for the next 25 years. In 1994, he retired because of his struggles with reactive arthritis, which required Vega to undergo surgery to replace his damaged knees.

"It kills you little by little," Vega said of his condition.

Retirement has allowed Vega to focus on his art full-time. Besides toothpick models, Vega is an avid painter, sculptor and woodworker. He draws much of his inspiration from his biennial trips to Peru.

"I travel all around the country," Vega says. "But I like to go to the highlands. Because, in the highlands, you get a lot of mysteries."

Many of his paintings and drawings depict Incan ruins or street scenes from Indian villages in the Andean highlands. But Vega is equally at ease painting an elaborate Roman-style garden or scenes from children's cartoons, like Winnie the Pooh and Popeye.

"For me, nothing is difficult," Vega boasts. "Anything they ask me to do, I can do it."

His manager at Walmart recently approached him. "I hear you're an artist," she said. Vega asked her if she'd like him to make something for her. "Surprise me," she said.

Vega created a toothpick model of an electric trolley car - with the Walmart logo painted across the top.

Besides his manager's office, Vega's work has been displayed at Harper College and at libraries in Chicago, Rolling Meadows, Palatine and Des Plaines. His next show is the Sun City Art and Craft Fair, which will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, at Sun City's Prairie Lodge, 12880 Del Webb Blvd.

Vega hopes to display work, including the completed Eiffel Tower, that shows his varied interests and talents.

"Whatever I've got, I'm gonna show," he says.

If you goWhat: Sun City Art and Craft Fair, featuring the work of Cesar Vega and other Sun City artists and crafters When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17 Where: Sun City's Prairie Lodge, 12880 Del Webb Blvd., HuntleyAdmission: freeDetails: (847) 515-7650True20001328Cesar Vega uses toothpicks and household cement to assemble detailed models of classic cars. Despite the intricacy of Vega's models, it only takes him about a week to make a car like this.John Starks | Staff PhotographerTrue