Oak Brook Center art show draws thousands

More than a dozen oversized metal dragonflies sat motionless around Herb Johnson's exhibit.

By day, the Hartford, Wis., man teaches his high school students the basics of sculpture and metal smithing. By night, Johnson works on his art, traveling to dozens of art fairs throughout the Midwest.

"I always tell my kids to find something that makes them feel like they would never work a day in their lives," Johnson said. "That's what this work is like for me."

Johnson was among 78 artists displaying a variety of pieces, from sculptures to glass and jewelry pieces to paintings, at the 46th annual Invitational Fine Craft Exhibition at the Oakbrook Center.

As many as 135,000 people are expected to attend the annual two-day art fair, which continues today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Volunteers from the Elmhurst Art Museum were on hand to help children design their own wristwatches.

Many of the exhibitors at Saturday's art fair, like Bob Parks of Scottsdale, Ariz., were out-of-towners who have been coming to the Oak Brook art fair for years.

"Many of my clients back home are former Chicagoans, so it made sense," said Parks, who displayed a collection of cowboys, horses and other Western-themed bronze sculptures.

Gary Weber of Roselle spent much of the afternoon tending to a near-continuous line of customers checking out his array of wooden carvings, jewelry boxes and coin banks made from old postal service lockboxes.

Saturday was Weber's first time participating in the Oakbrook Center art fair.

"This is definitely one of the nicer shows in the area," Weber said. "And I've been pretty busy. So far, so good."