More than just artwork at CLC's annual sale

Some exhibitors who show their artwork at the College of Lake County art sale, which starts Saturday, may attract buyers not only for their beautiful work but the stories of the artists.

Among the new artists will be a group of women from a program at the Northern Illinois council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse called Women of Worth.

These women, who are in treatment and recovery programs at Nicasa, make the jewelry using Kazuri beads from Kenya, said Christina Rasmussen, community exhibits center assistant.

Kazuri means "small and beautiful" in Swahili. The handmade beads are created outside of Nairobi on a former coffee plantation by women who often are the sole providers for their families. The workshop enables women to find a way out of living in poverty, Rasmussen said.

The beads then help women here in Lake County who are working to improve their lives.

"It's a great story of women helping women," she said.

Another artist may turn heads not only with her wooden pieces but more because she is a woman.

Lake Bluff artist Carole Floate has been a wood turner for 13 years. She said women account for about 10 percent of wood turners or furniture makers, but their ranks are growing.

She will be selling a variety of items handcrafted from local varieties of wood, some of which she gets from local tree trimmers.

Floate uses a lathe to create hand-crafted items such as bowls, vessels and platters of all sizes, uniquely shaped wine bottle toppers, fountain pens, toy tops, letter openers, magnifying glasses, desk accessories and beaded jewelry.

One of the more unusual wood pieces she crafted was an urn to hold the remains of a beloved family pet. Floate has taught wood turning classes throughout the area, is a member of wood turner's organizations in Illinois and Wisconsin and has been active in an organization called Collectors of Wood Art. Her worldwide connections with that group have resulted in visits from wood turners from Germany and Canada.

Floate has exhibited and sold her work in galleries across Illinois.

The juried sale that runs through Tuesday will feature original art by 30 Illinois artists, all who are established artists and some who still attend classes at the college.

"That is a focus at the College of Lake County. We are trying to support local artisans," she said.

Featuring only three-dimensional media, the sale will include hand-made jewelry, wearable art, ceramics, wood and glass sculpture, gourds and hand-made soaps and candles.

Rasmussen said some of the ceramics artists return each year and have earned a following from visitors who come early to purchase the best items on display.

The College of Lake County's annual holiday art sale will be held earlier than usual this year. The sale typically took place the first week of December.

"We found it was bumping against everyone else's art sale," she said. "It made more sense to do it earlier and get a jump on the holiday season."

Rasmussen added the sale, which is in its 17th year, serves as a major fundraiser for the College of Lake County Foundation to help provide scholarships to students.

If you go

What: College of Lake County's Annual Holiday Art Sale

Where: In the atrium outside the Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art in the Library/Learning Resource Center at CLC's Grayslake campus, 19351 W. Washington St.

When: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday