Lucille Baker

It all started with this little stamp box. Phyllis bought it at a neighborhood craft show. It was the first china painting done by hand that I noticed. It was lovely. The colors were so delicate and the detail was exquisite. It struck me as being a perfect art form: beauty and utility. Phyllis said Ms. Baker started china painting after a serious car wreck that left her crippled and in chronic pain. Unable to sleep, she would sit up through the night perfecting her art. Each piece was progressively painted and fired multiple times so that the various colors could fuse into the glass.

     I just had to meet this remarkable woman. We went to her house one evening and viewed her art. She had a couple of dozen small pieces on a shelf by her work table. As I admired each one she explained she had been selling them at bazaars. You know the kind I mean; one notch up from a garage sale. The kind where housewives get together at someplace like a church or community center and swap nic-nacs. Lucille's handiwork was waaaay above that level of craft. They still had the price tag stuck to the bottom. I asked her if that was what she wanted for it and she said "Yes, and not many takers at that." Then I told her I wanted to buy it. "Which piece?" she asked. "Why, all of them," I replied. I thought she was going to cry. She loved her art and was so happy to find a kindred soul who appreciated it.

     That first group included several plain round plaques she used to practice on. She practiced until they were perfect. Arranged chronologically, they told the story of her journey from tentative amateur to the mastery of the art. The early pieces were copies, excellent as they were, of her teacher's work. Her talent began to manifest itself shortly and the light, airy technique which is her trademark emerged. Lucille was a profilic artist. A few months later we went back to see her and she had a couple of dozen more finished.

Of course, there were holiday pieces. She had an Easter basket filled with porcelain eggs. Each one was painted in a different pattern. For Christmas she painted holly leaves with red berries on functional pieces. If she ever did Christmas tree ornaments I never saw them. Mostly she painted vases, jewel boxes, and pitchers.

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We asked her if she would paint eight place settings of china. She said she would do it, but she could only promise one place setting per month. We purchased a set of Lenox Eternal for her to use as a canvas. It is perfectly white with a fired-on gold rim. When our oldest son, Scott, became engaged to Edie we commissioned Lucille to paint an identical set for them. The pattern she selected was "Peach Rose." It compliments the Eternal pattern, and does not overwhelm it. It goes well with Ma-Maw Lankford's American Fostoria.

Jim Fanning built in three display cases along the east wall of our living/dining room to display our Lucille Baker collection. Her work never got into the commercial market, so there is no monitary value associated with it. Lucille died a few years ago, and there will be no more. The collection represents part of the life of a gifted woman we were fortunate to have as a friend. It is a unique experience we share only with her family and friends to whom she gave gifts made with her own hands. That makes them priceless.