Chinapainting in the "Good Ole Days"
by RubyGayle (Marrs) Jackson

Note from Marci: Because of the PPIO mailing list, I have come to know and love a wonderful lady by the name of RubyGayle Jackson. She is sweet, funny, talented, feisty and I am blessed to call her friend...She was there lending an ear and sage advice when Betty G and I had some crucial decisions to make in the beginning stages of PPIO (and thanks to her wise words, we made the right ones!)
She even pulled a fast one on me when I had the pleasure of staying with her while I was teaching a seminar in the area. I walked up to her front door and rang the bell, not really knowing quite what to expect. She invited me in and we chit chatted for a few minutes when I noticed a large fat kitty sound asleep on the couch. Well, I LOVE kitties, so I commented about what a pretty cat he was....RubyGayle said :" Oh, that's Fred!"...and, to my horror (and with a twinkle in her eye that I didn't see), she grabbed Fred by the tail, swung him around her head a few times and then tossed him on the floor.
It took a few seconds (and some giggling from RubyGayle) before I realized that "Fred" was a stuffed toy! ... That sealed our friendship!

RubyGayle painted her first piece of china at around the age of 10 in 1925....and she has seen (and adapted to) many changes in the art over the years. A while ago, I got another wonderful letter from her, laughing about how the "good ole days" weren't all that great .....and I asked if she would consider writing an article for PPIO about what it was like to be a china painter back then. She graciously agreed.
The following article is the result...and the paintings included are just a few examples of RubyGayle's beautiful work.
Thanks, baby! I LOVE you!
marci

THE HUNT- This was done from an old crazed and
cracked plate that a friend found at a flea market. I was
fascinated with the border and after finishing it I decided
to do the scene. The border design was penned over the
base light color, and the darker color air brushed and the
design wipedout. This piece has been displayed in
the WOCP Museum.

 A letter from RubyGayle to the PPIO list: "Someone wrote the list sometime back and said 'China painting really hasn't changed', and I thought 'oh boy, you should have lived so long'. Blanks, paints and 'baking' may be basic but even they have changed.
I have some studies that I ordered from Campana in the late 40's and today's painters wouldn't even call them 'studies'. Paints are so finely ground today we scarcely have to grind them. In one of Campana's books he says "grind the paint for at least 5 minutes!!' ye gods, a VERY limited palette would certainly be all we'd have.
Brushes were good but all I ever had or saw were quills. I had never heard of using a 'silk' to pad with. We used our finger. I never heard of "strokes" i.e. comma, C etc." until I started painting again in the early 80's. .
"The only constant is change", is probably one of the truest things we have. The good ole days--no thanks!

The Wild Rose 30 pc. Breakfast set was painted in 1934.

 I have been asked to write about some of my early memories of china painting and the materials that were available to us. Unless you are young and new to this List you have probably heard or read most of what I can remember and write.
I think Harry ( Hugar) and Gene (Patterson ) have both have lived more closely with some of the old equipment than I. I was fascinated by Harry's description of how his Grandmother covered the china with a crockery bowl to keep the wood ash from falling on it. My earliest memories are of a later period !! - the kerosene age!

PINK POPPIES & WHEAT- this fancy large plate has
Rainbow Lustre used in the irregular border, embellished
with Roman Gold and edged with the Gold.

 I was about eight years old when I saw my first table set with hand painted china . I had been making dishes instead of mud 'pies' and decorating them with flower petals, leaves and bits of this and that, from the time I first got my hands dirty in the red clay where we lived. That I might be able to paint real dishes some day was just mind boggling.
It was probably several months before my Mother learned that there was a young student in a small college about thirty miles from the small town where we lived, who would give me some lessons. Kilns were a rarity but at some time the college must have taught china painting as there was a kiln there that could be used..
I only have one piece of china left from that first experience and scrawled across the bottom in gold is "RGM age 10". That would have been in 1925. I do remember that several pieces were done during that time. I am guessing that the trips stopped when the weather and dirt roads made driving too difficult and I don't remember how long it might have lasted.

VIOLETS -This has an acid etched border covered with
black Matt and the glazed design in gold. (RubyGayle
does her own acid etching)

 The only thing I remember about the kiln was that it was bigger, taller, very heavy looking , black and uglier than the depot stoves of that time. I don't remember any of the details of that kiln, only that it was fired by kerosene, took days to heat and cool and was not fired very often.
I don't remember very much about those first lessons but the young teacher, Fern Sumner had grown up some where in Texas with a Mother who was a china painter. So from the things I learned to do and remembered how to do, she must have been knowledgeable and and a good teacher.
I don't know if my first supplies were ordered through the school or individually. I do know they came in a small wooden box from D.M.Campana, Chicago. It cost $3.95 and contained about 15 vials of Limoges paints, 2 bottles of MOP, a bottle of essence, several quill brushes, a large gold burnisher and several small rubber stamps, a small pallet knife and several small stumps. If there were other items I don't remember. Whether the tracing paper was included, or the pat of Roman Gold (45 cents) or whether they were bought extra I don't know.
I still have much of these first supplies.

LADY and CAT- This is an 50th Anniversary Plate. The
back has small designs and the names and dates of the
wedding and anniversary. The border is acid etched and
finished with liquid bright gold.

 The one piece of china that I still have is a candle stick, on a small plate with a handle. It looks like the candle stick that the child in his Denton pajamas is carrying in an old familiar ad for (tires) I think.
The candlestick is done in a simple conventional design. A half inch band around the inner edge is divided into 4 equal segments and 4 smaller segments between each of the larger ones. The larger spaces have a simple flower, leaves, and stems, painted and the smaller spaces are painted ivory. This simple band is repeated on the inner lip of the stick. The band segments are all outlined in Roman Gold. The rest of the piece is covered with MOP. The handle is all Roman Gold. It is a beautiful shade of Gold.
I think the other pieces must have been done in similar techniques for me to have remembered how to do them later when I painted on my own. (Some of those efforts were a bit disastrous and I have wondered where I had them fired or if they might have been kept wrapped in tissue until several years later when I had another opportunity to paint where there was a teacher and a big black kiln.)

FRUIT HARVEST- This is a 12" bowl 2" deep adapted
from a study by Jemez

 My major china painting experiences have been divided pretty much into 4 periods in my life, with just bits and pieces in-between. So whether you are young or old, please keep in mind that these are my memories, opinions and experiences in different times, places and situations from yours. I would like to hear about yours too.
One of the things I didn't learn during those first lessons was how to Pad or even a need for it. One of the pieces I still have , done on my own, was a very pretty tray with a handle. This piece has "age 12" on the back. Unfortunately in the center is a puddle of paint. From the design around the edge which was done very nicely, I had wanted to blend 2 colors into the body of the tray. Obviously I hadn't a clue about how it should be done. So I learned!
Occasionally I see it and think "Wink" . and then I put it back and remember that most of the really lasting lessons we learn are from our own mistakes and how we learned to correct them.
I continued to paint but not china paint. I didn't know or meet another china painter until 1934 when I married and moved with my husband to Woodward, another small town in northwest Oklahoma. The first Sunday we were there we were walking down the main street and passed a small gift shop. We stopped to look and I saw some pieces of hand painted china among the other items displayed. And then I spotted a small card that said "china painting lessons". I couldn't wait for Monday morning. My husband usually left for work at five so I was probably there when the door opened.

MOUNTAIN COLUMBINES- This is a 50th wedding
plate. It has small designs on the reverse where all the
names and dated are painted. Unless I am asked to put
names or dates on the front of special occasion pieces I
always put them on the reverse side. The border on this
plate is acid etched and finished with liquid bright gold.

 It was there that I met Ella Toews Wehye (the way I have spelled her last name doesn't look right, senior moment!). She was a talented painter who had moved to Woodward from Chicago, to be near her Dr. brother and to raise her teenage son and daughter.
Lessons were $1.00 but I don't think there were very many days when I missed going to the studio to paint. That big black monster sat in the back room. When we had painted enough to FILL it, Mrs. W. fired. The container for the kerosene was attached to one side. She would watch it very carefully, checking it during the night to be sure the fuel didn't run out and that it was continuing to heat.
I don't think she ever used a cone but watched the color through the peep hole until she new it was the right color, nor do I remember how long she held it at the temp. before starting the slow cooling process, which would take another 2 days at least. Needless to say, most pieces were done in 2 fires plus maybe an extra for gold.
For any of you who have never seen one of the old Kilns I believe there is still a picture on the PPIO site. ( Note from Marci: there is a picture of one of the old kilns and an article by RubyGayle about them here in the Members Only online lessons )
And for any who visit the WOCP Headquarters in Oklahoma City, there is one there that one of the State groups gave.
I still miss those wonderful smells when one walked in where anyone was painting--lavender oil, clove, turps. copabia etc. But, then, all we used (and knew) were closed mediums. I don't know how we ever kept the dust and sand off of or out of anything as that was at the height of the terrible dust storms of those depression years. Dirt was everywhere ...you couldn't keep it out of or off of anything. Maybe that was the birth of "structure" before cat hair!

NASTURTIUMS - The edge is antiqued with dark green
and wiped with gold.

I learned more about gold, lustre, designs, products and even that there had been a published China painting magazine called KERAMIC STUDIO. I still had never heard anything about 'strokes' or good design elements. I think it must have been assumed that if you could paint that was a built-in part of one's talent.
The magazine was started in 1915 by a Mrs. Adelaide Robineau of Syracuse, New York. I don't know if she had a husband but there is a Robineau Pottery Co. who sold Satsuma and Sedji ware in one of the large ads in the magazines. The magazine was a large, 14x11" slick page monthly that often had a rather fat supplement published too. Of course it was all in black and white and almost exclusively devoted to conventional pictures and articles for painting in a conventional manner. There are many ads and one can brows the ads and the entire magazines for hours.
They are interesting beyond belief--at least to me. It sold for .25 a copy or $4.00 a year. There are so many names so familiar to us old timers for paints and supplies (and you should see the prices.!!!!) Maurer, Campana (before they united) ChapmanBaily, Aulich, Fry, Reusche (and they only wanted BULK business, no "vials" sold) so many more and some that lasted until in the 80's.
This was at a time when a few brave souls were trying to introduce the "traditional" method of painting back and it was not being received with enthusiasm. It wasn't popular and perhaps because it is much more difficult to work with closed mediums and open mediums were not being used. Even with the difficulty it presented I cannot imagine that it could be more difficult, exacting and tedious than doing conventional work. Every line needs to be perfect or it will sure look "home madey" as a friend sometimes described home sewing. One needs a sharp eye and a very steady hand. There isn't the freedom of movement or color usually found in Traditional work. (note from Marci: traditional painting refers to the loose, impressionistic paintings that we today identify with china painting...Conventional work was exacting work that had stylized designs usually outlined with penwork and they were often geometric or had repeating motifs around the plate rim . RubyGayle's Luster plate is a good example of conventional work )

Then I discovered one of D. M. Campana's little paper backs "The Teacher of China Painting". It is still in print but not at .25 . I think one sold on E-bay for about $30.00, a little steep when it can still be bought. Considering the price of most of the books today, for real information she got a good buy even at that price!! Talk about answers, they are there.
I think it was while I was living in Woodward that I was finally introduced to the fact that there were still many sources of supplies, even if not close. $5.00 was about all I could afford at a time so it would take days before I could whittle my list of wants down to fit my budget. If there were ever any shows seminars, etc., I never heard of them. I learned to Pad too, but not with silks. but with the pad of my finger! The revival of interest in CP began to take place in CA in the 40's after it had reached an all time low during and after WWI . Interest spread rather rapidly on across the country.

I was thinking as I was scanning the ads in the old magazine today, what a wealth of beautiful and perfect quality china we could get compared to the coarse and blemished products we find today. (Not that "old is better cause we are old" ! !) I bought some of Rosenthal's Motif recently and the raised pattern on one piece is almost nonexistent. Once upon a time 2nd's would never be sold and sometimes it is hard to tell them apart now.

My painting with Mrs. W. ended after 10 months. I had finished about 36 pieces, among which were 12 desert plates with conventional designs and a breakfast set you may have seen on my web site.
It was about 15 yrs. before I had an opportunity to paint china again.

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In the summer of 1949 we had moved to another small town in southeastern Okla. I soon met a lady much older than I, with whom I became good friends. She was very much 'into' ceramics and had her own kiln. This was the first home kiln I had ever seen. Of course it used a cone and you hoped you wouldn't forget to check it. That looked interesting so I soon became involved. I did the usual things but spent more time molding (not throwing on a wheel) just making items from the slip or clay as I had as a small child. I still was a china painter at heart, I guess. I began painting on the bisque with china paints, before I glazed the pieces . Then one day a lady asked me about "teaching" china painting. I was not interested because I knew I was far from qualified to teach. She so wanted to have or do a piece of china I finally told her I would help her do one and I did.

I guess that was what started me thinking about the time I was spending doing ceramics. That wasn't what I wanted to do or collect or even keep. I wanted to paint china. I still didn't know anyone who painted and I didn't have a kiln of my own. I worked part time, had a teenage son and a small child and a busy husband so my days were full enough but I wanted to learn something. I tried to find books or any information on Tole Painting. Nothing. So Dolls and Lace Draping. Again I found nothing. There was no City Library to appeal to. Things just drifted.

We had lived in Oklahoma City during the WWII years and I had missed my best opportunities as there was a growing interest among some "older" women who were painting china again. I knew several of them but my family was taking most of my time and energies and I kept thinking "as soon as-----" but before that time had materialized we had been transferred to the south.
It was during that period that I began finding some sources for a few books and some of the first studies I ever saw, so I did began collecting. Hazel Wiggins and Perky Patterns are two I remember. Mrs. Wiggins (a CA teacher) had a color sheet as well as line drawings. The Perky patterns were just black and white line drawings.
I also ordered from Campana and the studies are about 6x6 inch color pictures on one long strip. The instructions on another sheet. The color and printing is so unbelievably bad I wonder if anyone ever tried to paint from them. I was collecting but not painting .

In 1955 we made our 36th move in 21 years and I am still here and at the same address! and couldn't possibly move. Again I let the years slip by while working full time, our sons were grown and gone and we were really enjoying retirement.
I had a much younger friend here who knew I had painted (she too had painted a little) and quite often she would say "you must start painting again", and I would have some excuse..
Circumstances sometime have a way of pushing us into doing things that nothing else will. When this same friend came bye one day and said "we are building a new home that won't be finished for at least a year and I have a new kiln and I want you to have it and begin painting again". The same week I saw a small item in the paper that the local china club (I hadn't even known there was one even though I knew most of the women) would have a free work shop for any one who would be interested in learning to china paint. I thought that would be a wonderful opportunity for me to become more familiar with materials again and to finally meet some painters.
I went and the study that was used was one of Jean Sadlers. The young lady who was teaching also was teaching a once a week class. I started taking her classes but soon learned that she knew even less than I remembered from my first lessons. She had never used Gold or Lustre or a closed medium and I soon realized that I painted better on my own and not in a group. However it was not a lost cause or time to begrudge.

At the work shop I was introduced to Open mediums, I'd never heard of such. It had to be a certain one! At that time I didn't realize that all we needed the medium for was to mix the paint and get it onto the china to stay until it was fired.
Art principles? never heard them mentioned. I was glad I had studied art in college so I really didn't think about that lack at the time.
Occasionally I would hear someone use the term C stroke and wondered to what they were referring. I should mention that even in 1925 we did have a china pencil and some tracing paper, stiff and not clear as ours today and, I guess, graphite paper. I still have some. We certainly didn't have scotch tape and I wonder how it was held on to the china? Don't remember. We used India Ink for drawing on designs. It will fire off. I don't remember ever sketching with a long liner or that I even had one.
We used lavender oil (the real stuff!) or pure turpentine to mix with Roman Gold. I don't think I ever heard of an unfluxed Gold . I'm sure we used one kind for everything. Most paints were still gritty and Mr. Campana said to grind each color for 5 minutes! I don't think some of the old gold colors could ever have been ground to be smooth, just on a glass. I had never used anything but a quill brush and now everyone was using Joyce Berlew's brushes. The lady who was firing the class pieces was firing so badly the pencil marks were often still on the china. I didn't like that and it was never corrected while I was there.

I began painting almost non-stop. My husband couldn't have been more supportive. He was as interested in seeing each piece come from the kiln as I. I went to my first convention in 1985 and crammed in every demo I could. I've lost count of the seminars-one day or a week and the demos and conventions I've attended and learned from. I learned from every one. Some had good teachers, some good painters, some real artists, some poor painters, but I learned and I painted.

I have learned that too many of the teachers started painting and had no background for art principles, even basics in china painting, i.e. how to mix paint, how to load a brush, how to design or how it could be arranged to have negative and positive areas etc. Most, I think, started because a friend said "pleezz teach me". But I do criticize now, if they have continued to teach without teaching themselves so that they, as a teacher, can include this basic knowledge to their students..

So how has china painting changed over the years. Like most everything else in the world today -- in every way -- but we are still decorating china to make it more attractive and beautiful and to satisfy something in us that wants to 'create' what is beautiful to our eye. Fine art? You decide.

My apologies for including so much of my personal life in this and making it so long (but it has been a LONG life!) and I find it hard to separate the two,

I hope this List and PPIO has helped and will encourage each of you to paint and create for many more years. I learn something from it almost EVERY day. Like CORALEEN, had never heard the term until the other day. Still don't understand what it is except painting on BISQUE . Or is it given the term because it was glazed-ware given the quality of a bisque surface? Not a new or different idea exactly.
Thanks again to Betty and Marci and the vision you made real.

RubyGayle (Marrs) Jackson