Joyce Baiss and the members of her Academy of Modern Porcelain Artists meet monthly to share the secrets of painting china.
By TRACY SMALL
Published September 26, 2003
CARROLLWOOD - Walking through Joyce Baiss' home, you would think you had entered an antique china shop.
The place is filled with fragile creations, each with a history and a technique that Baiss can describe firsthand.
Baiss is local president of the Academy of Modern Porcelain Artists, which meets monthly to learn techniques in china painting.
"We get together to keep the art alive," she said, leading a group last week at Roy Haynes Recreation Center.
China painting originated in China in the 1300s. A more modern Dresden style traces its roots to Germany. Its popularity took off in the United States in 1962, when Pauline Sayler published The China Painter. In 1967, Sayler founded the World Organization of China Painters, of which Baiss' group is a part.
"It's enjoyable, but you have to have a lot of patience," said member Evelyn Sedar, who paints Christmas ornaments for her grandchildren. "It takes a lot of time."
The technique involves painting with a powder containing fine bits of glass, which infuse with a glaze when the item is heated, or fired, said Baiss, who keeps a kiln in her garage.
Now 41, she learned china painting as a teenager in Brazil, where it has long been considered a fine art.
She remembers when President Jimmy Carter proclaimed July 1980 as National Porcelain Art Month, recognizing it as a fine art rather than a craft.
"I felt that it enriched the art in all aspects," she said.
In 1990 Baiss moved to Tampa and joined the academy. Her club is one of 17 in Florida and one of three in the Tampa Bay area.
The paint itself is a powder pigment mixed with mineral oil or automotive oil. For pen work, which Baiss considers her area of expertise, she uses a quick-drying ink called copaiba. Italian and Chinese designs are created in a similar fashion.
Joanne Stephens, vice president of Baiss' chapter of the academy, teaches the art Saturdays in Ybor City at a studio owned by Vietnamese porcelain artist San Do and Mondays at the Carrollwood center at 1902 S Village Drive.
Baiss has pupils of her own and teaches on Wednesday mornings at her home in Lake Magdalene.
She wishes she had time to recruit more members. "We need more young people to join," said member Anetha Cochran.
As hobby's go, it isn't cheap: You must first purchase the china pieces before you paint them.
But Baiss said it's money well spent.
"There is a sense of gratification because I use my dishes and mugs every day; they're not something to just hang on the wall," she said. "The art is therapeutic and the light-handed strokes force you to relax."
