Variety on display in Naperville's Riverwalk Art Fair

Herb and Peg Redding have been regular attendees at Naperville's Riverwalk Fine Art Fair as long as they can remember.

"I love to see what kind of ideas are out there on display," said Peg, a Naperville resident who creates her own oil paintings in her spare time.

From bronze sculptures of Humpty Dumpty to wine bottle storage racks shaped as butlers to paintings of everything from pastoral landscapes to dogs dressed as cooks, onlookers had more than their share of artistic variety.

About 145 artists from the West suburbs and beyond sold their wares under a row of white tents Saturday along Jackson Avenue.

And for those who needed a rest from the art crowds, members of the DuPage Symphony Orchestra performed near the Riverwalk for much of the day.

"It's a beautiful setting," said Angela Graefenhain, a Naperville painter who has some of her work on display at Edward Hospital. "The flow of the fair really lets people see everything that's on display. And I've never had a year where there was a scant crowd."

Patti and Bob Stern traveled from just outside Cleveland to participate in Naperville's 23rd annual art fair. The couple restores antique architectural artifacts such as doorknobs, windows, and pieces of wood that are then transformed into key holders, cabinets and clocks.

It's the couple's fourth time showing at the fair.

"We love coming here," Bob Stern said. "The community really supports this event, and we're certainly glad the weather is cooperating this weekend."

Saturday was Skeeter Aschinger's first showing at the Naperville art fair. The retired fashion merchandising instructor from Aurora took up creating sculptures of faces as a hobby, and has been selling pieces from her home the past five years.

"I never make the same piece twice," Aschinger said. "I think faces are interesting."

Cheryl Valiga of Bolingbrook decided to turn the art fair into a girls' day out with her daughter, Christen Cooper, and Cooper's three children, Cyanne, 9, Cienna, 6, and Caydence, 3.

"This is the weekly outing for three generations," Valiga said. "We'll browse for now, then bring back the husband later for dinner."