Creating art on china brings women together weekly

Shown are pieces painted by a group of women who get together in Garner to paint art on ceramics, china and other items.
Shown are pieces painted by a group of women who get together in Garner to paint art on ceramics, china and other items.

GARNER — In the quiet community of Garner, a group meets weekly to paint china pieces. The women’s hobby is in danger of becoming a lost art, one that their teacher, Glenda Hale, hopes will live on if younger members join the endeavor.

In the Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, the women could hear the whistle of a passing train as they concentrated on painting renditions of wrens on plates.

“We can paint and talk at the same time,” they said. And they do, sharing ideas, critiques, coffee and how things are going in their worlds.

It’s a two-hour klatch, and the women look forward not only to painting, but also to the camaraderie.

“These gals are good,” said Verna Parks of Beebe. “They share everything with you.”

The women arrive from various locales — from Garner and the nearby Vinity and Stringham communities, and from Searcy, Judsonia, Beebe and Newport.

“Everyone paints differently,” Hale said. “You can look at this and all have a different style.”

Hale said she enjoys painting roses, pansies and poppies, as well as the wrens on which the group is working. The objects she paints on range from the usual plates, clocks and pitchers to bathroom sinks. She also has an affinity for painting nightlights.

She said other favorite items to paint on are teacups, teapots and Easter eggs, and canvases have even included tiny shoes, a necklace, bowls and more.

“They enjoy seeing how many different things you can do,” Hale said.

For 25 years, Hale has been a china painter. She prefers painting porcelain over ceramics because it is “finer,” she said.

She began her hobby while living in Michigan, but after moving to Arkansas, she found it harder to locate a china-painting group. Jacksonville was her first venue; then she went to work at Remington Arms outside of Lonoke, and it was years later, upon retirement, that she ultimately took up the brush again.

That time, she took lessons at Maybelle Fraser’s home in Beebe, where there was a room set aside for students of the art to gather and learn.

Hale and her husband moved to Garner, where he had grown up. She wanted to continue china painting, and she and the other women soon began meeting.

Janet Branum of Judsonia also teaches the skill. She painted a set of blue, cream and green motif china for her daughter, she said. Relatives of group members often request that items be painted for them and sometimes put dibs on specific pieces, asking that the items be given to them or passed on to them later.

Vickie Smith of Newport, Linda Minyard of Stringham, Katherine Davenport of Searcy, Sarah Bratcher of Garner and Verna Parks of Beebe comprised the group that day. Hale’s daughter-in-law, Elfie Hale, also participates but was unable to be there.

Hale told stories of attending world, national and state conventions of china painters. There are 13 clubs in Arkansas, with from 100 to 125 members, she estimated.

“It’s really down now, with the older people gone,” she said. Hale has been to conventions in Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Michigan and Searcy. Searcy has hosted two state conventions at Harding University. Hale said she hopes the next state convention, or a mini convention, will be held in Searcy.

Davenport, who lives in a retirement community in Searcy, said the Harding University venue was where she learned about and became interested in the art. A relative encouraged her to go see the china painting, and she soon joined the group in Garner to learn more. She looks forward to the fellowship and to going on an outing each week, she said.

It is a congenial group, but its members know that when it gets quiet, it is time to get serious and get to work.

Brushes and paints are geared to china, and the porcelain pieces are generally ordered from a specialty company or provided by Hale or Branum. Gold paint has gold in it and is very expensive, Hale said.

Only two of the women — Hale and Branum — have kilns at their homes to fire the pieces when they are finished, the two fire the others’ work for them. It can take several hours at 1,359 degrees. Hale said her kiln cost about $1,000.

Hale recalled when she had a piece selected for display at an Oklahoma City site. Each year at the Arkansas convention, a piece is chosen to be taken to Oklahoma for recognition for a year. Hale’s creation highlighted poppies.

“I have had pieces go all around the world,” she said, telling of one that went to Germany. She also did a porcelain bathroom sink for a woman in Colorado and one for her daughter in Batesville. Hale said the most difficult thing to paint is roses. She has also had china on display at an Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch and at St. James Catholic Church in Searcy.

Each July — which is National China Painting Month — the group sets up a display at the Searcy Public Library that has garnered good feedback, she said.

Flowers of all kinds — lilies, geraniums, wild roses, pansies, tulips and morning glories — are favorite themes of the group, in addition to roosters, hens, Christmas decor, baskets and cats.

For information on the china-painting group in Garner, call Hale at (501) 726-3281 or Branum at (501) 729-5885.

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