Putting Paintbrush to Porcelain : Irvine Artist Creates Whimsical Designs on China Boxes, Tea Sets, Figurines

Nine years ago, Jacqueline Klein’s mother bought her a kiln--and helped launch an art career. Since that time, Klein has created a line of delicate, hand-painted porcelain boxes, plates, tea sets and figurines. Most feature curly-haired youngsters engaged in everything from in-line skating to playing princess.

“I’ve always loved art,” said Klein, an Irvine resident. “Ever since I was young, I was drawing, but I never seriously considered making a living by drawing.”

While living in New York, she owned a china shop and found herself dreaming about patterns that she could paint on the Limoges boxes and tea sets that she sold. It wasn’t until she moved to Southern California that Klein actually began putting a paintbrush to porcelain.

“I started taking classes to learn the medium of china painting,” she said. “Once I got started, it was hard to stop. Over the years, I’ve painted thousands and thousands of pieces. It’s such a joy to me that I never seem to tire of it.”

Klein started with hand-painted boxes that she gave to friends or sold to raise money for her children’s schools. Once she had her own kiln, she could work at her own pace.

“I’ve always been interested in fairy tales and, after my children were born, I was even more intrigued,” she said. “I started painting little fairylike people and then adding bits and pieces of poetry to make my work more personal.”

At the encouragement of her family, she took a few samples of her hand-painted boxes to a local gift shop.

“I really wasn’t expecting them to be interested,” she said. “When the owner said she’d take what I had but she needed more, I almost fainted.”

Today, Klein’s work can be found throughout Orange County and Los Angeles in such stores as Nordstrom, the Mole Hole in Laguna Niguel, H. Foster and Jackson in Tustin, Guinevere’s in San Clemente and the Red Balloon in Santa Ana. Her line of Judaica items, including cups, candlesticks and decorative boxes for the Jewish holidays, are sold in several Southern California specialty shops.

Her whimsical designs are delicate but highly detailed, and verses are intertwined with the drawings.

“I try to make each box personal,” she said. “They are all different because they’re hand-painted and I want them to be meaningful to the recipient. People like the idea of having something that nobody else has. They’re unique.”

For this reason, most of Klein’s work is customized and made through special orders.

“I paint almost year-round,” she said. “Christmas, Valentine’s Day, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays--you name it.”

Her boxes are the most popular items, and they range in size from the Lilliputian “tooth fairy” box (which sells for about $15) to upward of $200 for larger jewelry-box sizes. More recently, she’s added frames, atomizers, decorative plates, miniature tea sets (as well as regular sets), vases and candlesticks to her line. Although the tea sets can run in the $300 range and vases can cost $150, Klein tries to keep most of her prices near $75.

“I started painting on Limoges but I wanted to add more variety and keep the costs down, so I paint on other china pieces as well,” she said.

“When my daughter, Liliana, was born, I began painting more princesses and mermaids because that’s what she liked,” Klein said. “Now that she’s 4, she’s more interested in fairy tales. My son, Ezra, tended to be more interested in dragons and eagles, although I have painted plates for him with the fairy-tale characters hidden in the design so he has to find them. My family has been a wonderful source of inspiration for me.”

Even her college-age son, Gideon, enjoys the plates his mother painted for him as a graduation present. They are in an Imari Japanese style, similar to cloisonne.

The poems that often surround the images have been frequently requested by the buyer.

“Sometimes they have a favorite line or verse they want included,” she said. “They may already have a favorite poem or inscription. I try to incorporate personal information about the person as well. Sometimes on the smaller boxes, I’ll write about their favorite things, like pancakes or music or dancing.”

She also tries to learn a little about what the recipient looks like. Dark or light hair? Straight or curly? All these details, according to Klein, help make her pieces keepsakes.

The process of painting on porcelain is not a quick one.

“I can only do so much,” she said. “Each piece is pretty labor-intensive.”

Initially, she maps out a rough idea of the drawing and how the words will be incorporated into each piece. Then she mixes her paints (a special china paint containing clove oil) and, using a very fine-tipped pen point, she begins her work.

After an image is drawn in black ink, the piece is fired for the first time. It is then sanded and the colors are added, usually in pastels, although Klein has done pieces in bold colors. It is fired a second time and, after cooling, a third time to make the colors more vibrant.

It usually takes Klein about three weeks to finish a piece, although she has been able to produce her wares on shorter notice.

“I do what I can to meet someone’s deadline, she said. “But with all the firings, it takes a minimum of three days.”

More recently, Klein has found herself working on corporate accounts for such establishments as the Orange County Performing Arts Center, for which she recently designed a book with a circus theme for a special event.

With June around the corner, she is also seeing an increase in wedding pieces.

“I do a lot of bridesmaids’ boxes this time of year,” she said. “Usually, I get a photo of the dresses so I can match the style and colors.”

Her whimsical characters have also been painted with everything from blond curls to dreadlocks to funky hats. Her characters have engaged in activities ranging from scuba diving to ballet dancing.

“One woman even had me paint her husband as a prince,” she said.

And little by little, her work is beginning to take over more of her life.

“I guess it’s because I enjoy it so much,” she said. “I’m never more at peace than when I’m painting. I’ll be sitting here in the afternoon with the sun streaming through the windows and my birds are chirping. The pieces I’m painting are usually for happy occasions.

“I like to think that each piece has a destination and that they bring some measure of happiness. I’m sort of in my own little world where I can help awaken fond memories for others. There’s something magical about that.”