Drawing and painting since childhood, I am basically a self trained artist. My first love is porcelain art (china painting). I also like to do decorative acrylic painting & paint ACEO's/Artist Trading cards in watercolors, acrylic, colored pencil and pastels most of my subjects are from photographs many of which I have taken myself. I am a member of the Society of Decorative Painters, Chespeake Bay Decorative Painters & the China Painting Artists of Maryland. My style runs the gammet but I lean towards the cottage/shabby end of the Old Farmhouse especially with my china painting (porcelain art)!Each piece of china is painted and fired to a temperature of 1800 degrees in a kiln multiple times. The paint is built up and goes from light to dark as you would in watercolors. In fact there is no white on the pallette as the whites are actually the china showing through. Most china is painted 3 times, however, I have had some pieces painted as many as ten times. You can view a progression of the painting of a piece of china on my photobucket. Here's the link:http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v298/heylucy1/China%20Painting%20Stages/It shows the inspiration piece (an antique postcard), the blank china, then the blank china with the design sketched on it and the 3 paintings and firing of the piece.Joann Wheeler
