HUMBOLDT – For a group of artists in Humboldt, porcelain is their canvas.

Artists in the Humboldt China Painters club create works of art by painting various pieces of porcelain, covering them with animals and flowers

“Most of our work is free hand,” said Ginny Johnson, club president. “Sometimes, if it’s a portrait or something, they might trace to get what they want.”

They paint on porcelain eggs, piggy banks, cups and other shapes.

Pearl Pederson, another member of the club, said that she loves using porcelain as a canvas.

Unlike when painting on other mediums, Pederson said painting china is a little different. They can’t add highlights, they can only make the colors darker.

This means that if she paints a bird whose feathers are lighter in one area, she must use little or no paint, since she can’t paint in lighter colors.

“We start very light,” said Johnson. “The highlights are still the white china.”

Once the first coat of paint goes on, the china goes into a kiln, something most of the women in the club own.

“If they don’t, everyone is very willing to share what they have,” said Johnson.

The kilns get hot.

“They fire at 1400 degrees,” said Johnson. “We may fire two, three or four times, usually at least three times.”

After each fire, the women add another layer of paint to their art.

When they buy their paint, it comes as dry minerals in a small vial.

“We mix them with an oil-based medium until they are toothpasty,” said Johnson.

The porcelain they paint on comes from a few different places.

“We order through a few dealers,” she said. “Or, a lot of people look for porcelain at antique shops.”

The Humboldt China Painters club has been around for at least 40 years, said Lorrie Bacon.

“We had an egg show that began in 1977,” she said.

For the group’s upcoming show on Saturday, each member is showing off at least six painted eggs.

But they will also have Christmas tree ornaments, piggy banks and other pieces of china.

“We like to show and like the public to see what we’ve done through the year,” Johnson said. “We display the things we’ve done during the year so people in the community can see all of our artwork.”

Their art will be on sale, so Bacon recommended getting to the show early to see all of it. During most shows, she said that people line up outside before it starts.

Profits made from selling the china go toward education, Johnson said.

“We use it to pay for art in the (Humboldt) schools,” she said.

That money provides supplies that students may not have otherwise.

“They really appreciate it,” she said. “The high school is always appreciative of it.”

Money raised also helps pay for the club to hold seminars, where it invites an artist in to talk about painting. This helps continue the members’ education too, Johnson said.