Art Grows In the Garden at Palatine's Knupper Nursery

Knupper Nursery in Palatine staged its fourth annual Art in the Garden Saturday.

Forty artists from as far away as Iowa and as near as Palatine and Inverness showed prints, photography, ceramics, water colors and jewelry at booths scattered among flowers, bushes and hanging baskets.

“We call it Art in the Garden because it is interspersed among the plants,” said Chris Sieff, marketing director at , 1801 N. Rand Rd. “It makes for a very pretty setting.”

Despite the show’s name, work was not limited to flower or plant-themed subjects.

“We  call it Art in the Garden but its not about the garden,” Sieff said. “It would be boring if everybody here did something with flowers on it. It’s a little of everything to appease everyone.”

In addition to the artwork, the nursery was collecting food items for the Palatine Township Food Pantry. Last year, more than 400 pounds were collected.

Inverness artist Janet Mamon showed several paintings. She also did a brief demonstration of her techniques, dabbing yellow and red oil paint on a small canvass as she talked to onlookers.

Photographer Breanna Behrendt of Barrington displayed colorful flower images in what she said was her first art fair.

“I always carry my camera with me,” she said, explaining how she makes her images.

And Jacqueline Bevan of Round Lake Beach showed off delicate jewelry and pendants with tiny leaves fused between two layers of glass.