RUSSELLVILLE — The nine women giggling in the sunny pool house sounded more like sorority girls planning a big dance than longtime friends who share a passion for an art form considered dainty, feminine and wholly ladylike. That’s the allure of china painting, and that’s the paradox.
These women, although every bit ladies, were dressed in shorts and capris and sported bright red lipstick. They laughed and hugged and laughed some more. They tossed their sandals and plopped their feet in the cool waters of the pool. Yet they delicately paint the most intricate and delicious designs on platters, plates, vases, teapots and slabs of creamy white porcelain.
And not everyone paints flowers. Wynona Mayfield, who joined the group in 2000, is one of the newest members. A self described Jill-of-all-trades, she raised cattle for most of her life.
“I remember when I first began painting four years before I came to this group,” she said. “I took lessons from a woman who was known as the rose queen. Everyone in her class painted flowers. I asked her if she had a picture of a barn.”
Mayfield’s tastes still run off-kilter to the norm. Her work is contemporary, and one of the pieces she will show at an upcoming exhibit features three standing forks, one stabbing a tomato.
Though the women — all of whom live in and around Russellville — are connected by their china painting, this is a diverse group. Ann Adams, a retired American Airlines hospitality ambassador; Pat Kolb, a retired surgical and orthopedic nurse; Gay Nolen, a former Louisiana antiques dealer; Sylvia Bush, a retired machinist; U’ilani Cooper, a native Hawaiian, potter and fused-glass jeweler; Jennie Littleton, a retired educator who taught the indigenous children of Alaska; Mary Branch, a master artist, seamstress and beader; and Vinita Harrison, the mother of four and a grandmother, make up the dynamic club.
The women are weekly guests of Harrison, who at one point instructed them in the fine art. She stopped teaching long ago, she said, laughing.
“We just love to spend every Tuesday together,” Harrison said.
The lessons, which began more than 40 years ago, turned into paint-outs offering the benefits of fellowship, support and a beautiful view of the pool.
“Vinita says she doesn’t teach us anymore, but she continues to practice her unique talent of teaching, and she develops our artistic sides,” Kolb said.
Other teachers have stepped forward. Kolb has taught specialized classes in painting chrysanthemums, and Nolen has instructed others on how to paint “the Gypsy Girl” in a portrait class.
The group functions as a family on several levels. Emotionally, members of the group have encouraged each other through illnesses and deaths.
“We lost several members over the past couple of years,” Kolb said. “Vinita’s husband passed away two years ago.”
“It’s like a therapy group,” Nolen said. “Vinita provides the drinks, and anything goes because we’re among friends.”
“There’s a lot of laughter in this group,” Mayfield added.
“We not only share ourselves in this group,” Littleton said, “but we also encourage each other, and we share our knowledge.”
Members of the group actively donates pieces of their work to local charities and are generous with family and friends.
The women are keeping a busy schedule these days. They will participate in the Arkansas World Organization of China Painters’ annual convention in Eureka Springs on Thursday, Oct. 28, through Saturday, Oct. 30. The theme is “Painting Around the Clock: Celebrating the ’50s.” And on Sunday, they will attend a reception in their honor at the River Valley Arts Center in Russellville to open a month-long exhibit of their works.
“All this would never have happened without Vinita,” Kolb said.
“She’s very much the matriarch,” Mayfield added, “and we love her.”
“The problem with this is that I just love it,” Harrison said. “And we always have room for one more.”
The reception at the River Valley Arts Center, from 1–3 p.m. Sunday, is open to the public. For more information on the group, call (479) 968-5081.