Fifty Years Painting Porcelain

AS TOLD BY ALFRED LIPPERT

MOTHER wanted me to be a carpenter. But my schoolteacher urged her to get me a job at the porcelain handicrafts factory down the road in Meissen, Germany. Why was he so insistent? His keen eye noted that I had a knack for drawing. I love my mother, but I am glad that the teacher had his way. Thus, at the age of 14, I began learning how to be a painter of some of the world’s most beautiful handmade porcelain.

Porcelain has been made in Meissen for almost 300 years. The first factory in Europe to produce genuine porcelain was established here in 1710. About 30 years later, the factory founded a school where young people could learn the art of painting porcelain. This school, still open and now operated by the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, is where I made my first nervous strokes as a painter of porcelain.

At the school I also learned the finer points of sketching and painting pictures of flowers, trees, animals, and birds. This study course laid the foundation for my later work.

Glazed or Unglazed?

Porcelain is a translucent ceramic that can be painted in two basic ways. The painting can be done before the glaze is added to the ceramic. But unglazed porcelain is porous and soaks up the color, so the painting demands a high degree of concentration, since most mistakes cannot be corrected. On the other hand, the paint can be applied after the porcelain has been glazed. Painting flower decorations in this way became my specialty. This work involved not only painting but also designing individual bouquets for each item of porcelain. So the painter, having learned to focus his mind and avoid distractions, learns to use his imagination to compose something beautiful.

After painting flower decorations for several years, I finally moved on to the most difficult category of all—that of painting pictures of living creatures. Here is where my earlier study of painting animals and birds really paid off.

 A Most Exciting Challenge

Painting animals, fish, and birds presents an exciting challenge because each creature has to look alive, not static like a flower or a tree. The artist has to know something about the anatomy and the habits of the animals and birds he is painting. For instance, many of the scenes I portray feature wild game, including stags with huge sets of antlers.

When it comes to learning about animals, nothing beats personal observation. Some years ago I planned to paint a series of pictures of fish, so I bought a home aquarium and put all manner of fish in it. My wife and I sat near the fish tank for hours, observing the movements and habits of each type of fish. Only after I had become acquainted with them did I start painting.

What Makes a Good Painter?

Friends sometimes ask me what makes a good painter of porcelain. Clearly, the painter needs to have artistic talent, a good eye, and a steady hand. But he needs more. To be successful as an artist, a person must have the right attitude toward himself, his work, and other people. A good painter is a craftsman who trains himself to work hard at improving his skill. He knows that you either use it or you lose it. He never stops learning, since he listens to what others say and accepts their advice.

One last point. The experienced artist is sensitive to the wishes of the customer. People who buy handmade porcelain do not want an everyday item that will be kept for a while and will then be thrown away and replaced. The customer wants an object of art, an article of cultural value—something that catches the eye, warms the heart, and enriches the owner’s life. The painter is pleased to have a share in satisfying those desires.

Painting Leads to Faith in God

My work as a painter gave me the impetus to take a closer look at the Bible and to develop strong faith in God. How? Well, at times I have worked with experts on birdlife, sketching and painting illustrations for books that they were working on. When I started doing such illustrations, I believed in evolution. But close contact with several authors led to conversations about the origin of life. And such conversations changed my outlook.

What struck me was that although the experts all believed in evolution, each had his own theory, which often contradicted those of other experts. As far as I can see, there is no uniform theory of evolution. Hence, I concluded that if the experts cannot agree on a uniform explanation for evolution, how could anyone else? For me, evolution died a natural death. The only alternative to evolution is that life on earth is the product of creation. That is where my belief in our Creator began.

I am so pleased that people now derive pleasure from my work, and this makes me feel good. I will never lose my love of painting or my love of porcelain.

[Picture Credit Line on page 17]

Pictures on pages 16 and 17: Mit freundlicher Genehmigung der Staatlichen Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH