Vol. VIII, No. 9 
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 
January, 1907 
E extend a New Year's Greeting 
to our Keramic friends with 
full assurance that they will 
indeed enjoy this New Year's trip 
to the work-shop of Henrietta 
Barclay Paist, of Minneapolis, 
and that they will find in the 
West a vigor and originality 
which will be both instructive 
and inspiring. The next individ- 
ually edited number will be given in March. Margaret 
Overbeck is also a Western girl, teacher at DePaw In- 
stitute, Greencastle, Indiana. In May we return again 
to the East, our anniversary number being edited by Mr. 
Marshal Fry of New York. 
The next subject for the Class Room will be "Flower 
Painting" under which heading will be included the sub- 
divisions: Roses, white, pink, and crimson; Violets; Daf- 
fodils; Nasturtiums; Geraniums; Pansies; Forget-me-nots. 
Other flowers, white, pink, crimson, violet, purple, blue, 
yellow, orange and red. Miniature flowers. Prizes as 
before. 
THE CLASS ROOM-THE ART OF TEACHING. 
Second Prize — Sydney Scott Lewis, Georgetown, Ky. 
Truly the art of teaching china painting is an art. 
To know how to take a piece of china and decorate it, 
then to be able to teach others how to do it, the teacher of 
china painting must not only train the eye and hand, but 
the taste as well, and to so direct it that the pupil will learn 
not only what is best to decorate for different uses, and how 
to decorate, but why. 
The writer of this article has for six years taught china 
painting, with but few exceptions the pupils have geen 
beginners, the class generally changing from year to year, 
only an occasional one remaining long enough to become in a 
measure an advanced pupil, and the experience so gained 
may be useful to others, especially in the teaching of be- 
ginners. When she began teaching, she was a beginner 
herself, although having had more training than the young 
woman who wanted to take five or six lessons "not to be- 
come an artist but to be able to teach." She was obliged 
to do simple things, so naturally the pupils had to begin 
with simple things also, and gradually, as experience grew, 
to work up to more ambitious things. This plan has 
seemed so good to the teacher that even with the gaining 
of greater experience and confidence this early method 
has been followed. 
The majority of the pupils were boarding school girls 
who "wanted some pretty things to take home." So 
it has been a fight to keep to quality of work and not quan- 
tity, to stand up for simple conventional designs on table 
ware, especially to wage war against bunches of flowers 
painted on the center of plates and dishes. However, 
as a result of judicious advice and the exhibition of some 
well chosen pieces, they were generally sent home with a 
fair amount of cups and saucers, plates and bowls, with 
which they will be able to live in peace and pleasure, and 
out of which they may eat in the same state of mind. 
Surely it is best that the would be china painter should 
have some training in drawing, but if this is not the case, 
try and alternate painting lessons with drawing, and if that 
is not to be, by all means keep them to the purely con- 
ventional style, teaching them how to make an exact trac- 
ing of a design, and how to accurately transfer it to the 
piece to be decorated. 
If one is starting a class of beginners, say six or more, 
or even a less number, much can be taught them by the 
class method, at least much of the elementary work. See 
that each one has a full list of good colors, first class oils 
and mediums, well selected brushes and an improved 
palette. The first step is to show them how to mix colors 
and set a palette. Take one of the palettes and let them 
watch you mix such colors as they will need for general 
painting. Let them see a palette arranged "decently and 
in order" with clean well mixed colors, and impress on 
them the necessity of this in order to do satisfactory work. 
Suppose one of the pupils is to do a set of plates in 
some simple conventional design on the border, with de- 
sign wiped out from the tint, filled in with color and the 
whole outlined. Here is an excellent chance to instruct 
the entire class in dividing the plate into the desired parts, 
drawing and transferring the design, mixing and putting 
on a tint, explaining just the proportion of flux, color, 
medium or oil required. Have them watch the stroke 
with which the paint is put on, the kind of brush used, 
the way to make and handle the pad, the way the tinted 
surface should look when finished ; then the very important 
step, cleaning out the paint from the design carefully and 
accurately. Next how to fill in the design with any de- 
sired color ; then outline (only when the pupil does the 
work the piece should be fired before outlining), showing 
them how to take up the paint and hold the brush, in order 
to make long, even, unbroken lines, calling their attention 
to the way the piece is held, so as to avoid finger marks 
and spots on the fresh color. When you are doing the 
work yourself, be so careful, so neat, that spots and specks 
will be out of the question. When you make a mistake 
never hesitate to rub out and begin again, thus setting a 
good example. When you are working, impress on the 
students that this is the way you want them to do similar 
work and the chances are 9 to 10 that they will have fol- 
lowed you so closely in many things that they will be able 
to bring a piece of work through these steps without much 
more instruction. 
Having them imitate you does not mean that their 
individuality is not to be encouraged, but start them the 
right way and their individuality will adapt itself to that 
just as easily as it would the wrong way. Then as ex- 
perience comes, let them go at the work by any method by 
which they can reach the best results. But you will find 
that their method will more or less follow the teacher's. 
All well, if they have been correctly started, but, alas! 
quite the reverse if not. 
In this class method teach them to mix and use paste 
and enamel, to put on gold and silver, telling them Roman 
