GLENDALE : Painted China Put on Exhibit at Show

It was like going to a royal banquet: round dinner tables covered with gold-rimmed porcelain plates, vases and cups decorated by paintings of a horse, or a collage of flowers or children.

Altogether, more than 500 hand-painted pieces of china were on display at the annual Porcelain Art Show at the Glendale Civic Auditorium last weekend, sponsored by the 100-member Valley Porcelain Artists.

Members of the Burbank-based group, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, say interest in the art form that originated from China and spread across Europe and the United States has continued to grow in the San Fernando Valley.

“More people have talked about it” over the years, said Toni Brown Kimmel, 75, of Studio City. “It’s the start of a renewed interest.”

People usually find out about the group through a neighbor, said Kimmel, a five-year member.

That’s how Donna Davies, 65, of Burbank took up the hobby. She noticed 84-year-old Anna Stewart’s porcelain pieces and wanted to learn how to decorate them herself.

“(Now) I display them on my mantle so everyone will look at them when they come in,” Davies said at the show.

“You come to learn, you come to buy and you come to look and admire everything,” Long said.

Porcelain artists also encourage others unfamiliar with the art form to try to pick it up.

“Sometimes I say it saves my life,” said Ruth Harvey, a featured artist at the exhibit who started porcelain painting 40 years ago. “I’ve had some difficult times in my life and painting just helped me get over them. When I paint, I forget everything else.”