Naperville art fair draws almost 100 artists

More than 90 artists displayed their works in clay, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, sculpture and wood at the Naperville Woman's Club 55th Annual Juried Fine Art Fair.

"This our largest fundraiser. Proceeds from this event are donated toward an art scholarship at North Central College and also to area local charitable organizations in the community throughout the year," said Roxanne Lang, director of the fair, held at Naper Settlement.

Rosie and Dave Claus of Naperville showed their Off the Vine Gourds artwork.

The retired educators began working in hard-shell gourds about 10 years ago.

Once they have purchased gourds from several different growers, they hang and dry the gourds for a year. Then begins a lengthy process of wood burning and hand-bending beads to produce decorative art, which won them "Best of Show for use of Botanicals" last week during a show at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

"We've been here since 2006 and we love this venue," Rosie Claus said. "It's the perfect place to display our pieces. It's very well attended and we have a great following of people that come year after year. Also, I think this show has a wonderful variety of art."

Ceramic arts studio Clayspace, a not-for-profit organization in Lisle, is comprised of 55 artists who donate empty bowls. Proceeds from the sale of these empty bowls are used to benefit local area food pantries.

"All the profit from the sales of these bowls will go directly to local food pantries of Illinois, " said Sue Borghesi of Clayspace.