THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270189
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Close Up
SOURCE: Rebecca A. Myers
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
After Christine Patterson lost a sibling in February to a four-year bout with cancer, she decided to embark on a project that not only memorialized her sister but also benefited their church.
The 92-year-old Cradock woman dug out paintbrushes, mixed paint, ordered porcelain plates and fired up kilns - all to resume the china painting she was forced to put on hold four years earlier at the onset of her sister's illness.
Patterson's goal was to paint and sell 50 plates at $20 each on behalf of Cradock Presbyterian's 19th annual fall bazaar. The sale, called Ye Olde Craft Shop, will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
``That would be $1,000 cleared for the church, and I've gone way over that now,'' said Patterson, who will donate the money in her sister's name.
``When my sister became ill in 1991, it was a progressive deterioration, and I put my china painting on the back burner,'' she said.
Patterson's sister, Edwena McClory, was 88 when she died Feb. 11.
``It's only since she's been gone that I had the thought that this would be a good memorial to Edwena.''
For 26 years, Patterson and her sister were next-door neighbors and best friends.
``I own my home, and when she became unable to go up and down the stairway to her apartment, I just moved her over here to my house,'' she said.
Patterson, in extraordinarily good health despite being three years older than her sister, kept a 24-hour vigil on Edwena throughout her illness.
``We were always very close, and I miss her terribly,'' she said.
Patterson started painting porcelain 80 years ago when she was 12 years old.
``There was a lady from Pennsylvania who moved to my hometown and she did china painting,'' said Patterson.
``I thought it was so fascinating that she gradually let me help her put the pieces of china in the kiln for firing,'' she said. ``She was my first teacher.''
But even before she dabbed the first drop of paint on a blank white plate, Patterson knew she was destined to be an artist.
``Every time I'd get a new tablet, just as quickly as ever I could, I would draw a daisy up at the top of the page on every sheet,'' she recalled with a smile.
Over the years, Patterson's small Cradock home has taken on the appearance of an art gallery. Plates, vases and lamps adorned with chrysanthemums, violets, orchids, irises and morning glories grace her walls, book shelves, fireplace mantles and china cabinets.
Patterson doesn't know exactly how many plates she painted for the bazaar ``because I haven't had time to count,'' she said. Each plate required at least three firings and took five days to complete. She has two kilns in her garage and a smaller one in her kitchen.
``You have to do it in sections of time because you can't put paint on thick,'' she explained. ``It would crack off in the firing. So you have to be careful.''
Flowers are Patterson's specialty, especially roses, but she also paints swans, sea gulls and other birds.
``That little hummingbird is a big seller,'' she said, holding up a plate decorated with the small bird drinking from a morning glory.
``I have hummingbirds here in the summer when my geraniums are in bloom, and they just love it,'' she said.
``And I have a little morning glory vine in my back yard. I bring the blooms in early in the morning, then paint from that.''
At 92, Patterson still drives, does her own grocery shopping and housework and continues to paint with the same attention to intricate detail that she possessed 50 years ago.
``I haven't lost any of my technique,'' she said. ``You have to have keen eyes, and my eyesight is 20/20,'' after having cataract surgery on both eyes.
Patterson spends about three hours a day on her hobby, working at her dining room table, where the sun comes in over her right shoulder. She would work longer except that her shoulders begin to tire.
``I try to get all my housework done in the morning, at my own speed, and then eat an early lunch. Then I start my china painting about 1 o'clock, and I paint till about 4.''
It's Patterson's hope that the memory of her sister will live on in each of the plates sold since her death.
``I'm doing the plates not as a promotional thing for me or as advertising because I have plenty of orders that I can't even fill,'' she said.
``This is something that I just wanted to do for her.''
Name: Christine P. Patterson
Nickname: Chris
Neighborhood: Cradock
Number of years in Portsmouth: 50
Birthplace: Ocilla, Ga.
Birthdate: 7/21/03
Occupation: Housekeeping and painting porcelain
What job other than your own would you like? None
Marital status: Widowed
Children: One stepdaughter
Fondest childhood memory: My first porcelain art teacher allowed me to help place china in the kiln for firing. This was at age 12 years.
First concert: Many concerts and recitals while in school
What song or book title best describes your life? The Bible has been my guide through the years, and I have served many offices in my church, Cradock Presbyterian Church.
Biggest accomplishment: My first piece of porcelain, an arrangement of roses, was accepted for national viewing
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Not to take on more projects than I can handle
Perfect way to spend the day: Porcelain painting and preparing my Sunday school lesson for my Sunday school class.
I can't resist: To paint one more piece of porcelain for an anniversary or birthday gift
Favorite Portsmouth restaurant: The Max
Favorite Portsmouth hangout: None
Biggest problem facing Portsmouth: There are too many vacant malls in Portsmouth
Other than its small-town atmosphere, what do you like about living in Portsmouth? I have lived here so long, I feel it is a part of me. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
by CNB