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She's Got A Lot On Her Plates

CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE PHOTO

Joyce Baiss, owner of Arts of Fire Porcelain Paintings, holds a pedestal bowl which she painted and will show at the Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival at Lake Park on Dec. 1 and 2. On the wall behind her are all pieces that Baiss has painted that hang in her home.

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 28, 2007

Additional photos

CARROLLWOOD - Joyce Baiss, a noted local porcelain artist, has been perfecting the delicate strokes in the ancient art of china painting for 29 years.

Her passion for turning dishes and platters into visual art began at age 16.

The Brazilian-born artist first learned the Japanese-styled band work design. Now most of her works have a classical European style where the strokes are not rigid but free-flowing.

Examples of her handiwork decorate the kitchen and dining room walls of her Carrollwood home.

"In this, you never stop. I'm still learning," she said.

Baiss will be one of 250 artists and crafters selling their works at the 28th annual Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival this weekend at Lake Park.

The show runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the regional park at 17302 N. Dale Mabry Highway.

The juried show is the largest fundraiser for its organizer, the Lutz-Land O' Lakes Woman's Club. It offers prizes in painting, sculpture, crafts and photography.

It will be Baiss' second appearance at the arts showcase, which attracts 35,000 people over two days. She will sell hand-painted porcelain sinks, decorative kitchen tile backsplashes, murals and large round platters.

With each new piece, she starts by sketching the image on the white tile or platter. If needed, several reference books filled with photographs of flowers or birds are within arms reach on the bookcase.

Baiss said she tends to paint lots of birds, vegetables and flowers because her pieces end up decorating kitchens.

The paints come in vials of powdered pigments and are mixed with oil and swirled into a toothpaste consistency. The delicate movements are variations of one of three basic brush stroke movements - straight down, a comma, or c-shaped.

Once the glazed porcelain pieces are painted, they are fired in a kiln at 1,400-degrees Fahrenheit. The colored pigment fuses into the china, and as the softened glaze cools it forms a protective covering on the art work.

"It's just practice and practice," she said. "You don't need patience. You need to enjoy it and like it."

China painting is considered a fine art and not a hobby or a craft. Former President Jimmy Carter declared that in 1980, she said.

Baiss, a member of the World Organization of China Painters, has had some of her vases displayed at the group's museum in Oklahoma. She teaches a painting class twice a week in her home.

She is a member of The Academy of Modern Porcelain Artists, a local china painters club that meets once a month to paint at the Roy Haynes Recreation Center in Forest Hills.

After nearly 30 years, Baiss said she enjoys creating the fine art for its quiet solitude.

"It's a therapy. It gets rid of the stress," she said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: 28th annual Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Lake Park, 17302 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Lutz

Information: Contact Barbara Nicholson at (813) 996-7742.

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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