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PrintHand-painted porcelain treasures
Tulsa artist Ronda Roush has hand-painted porcelain treasures for celebrities in Oklahoma and across the country.
Little did Tulsa artist Ronda Roush know how much painting a Limoges china box with a teddy bear and ribbons would change her life.
The hand-painted box was a gift to Frank and Cathy Keating for their touching role in the memorial service following the Murrah Building bombing on April 19, 1995. The teddy bears and ribbons are symbolic of the remembrances that continue to be placed at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.
Cathy Keating, then Oklahoma’s first lady, was impressed with Roush’s artistic talent.
“She called and invited me to the Governor’s Mansion and said she had plans for me,” Roush says. “I had no idea how big her plans would be.”
At that time, Friends of the Mansion, an organization Keating founded to help support historical and authentic improvements to the governor’s residence, had a gift shop at the state Capitol. She commissioned Roush to produce a work of art commemorating the Governor’s Mansion. This was the first item that would be presented as a gift for each charter donor of the Friends of the Mansion.
“I began to mass produce various items for Friends of the Mansion and the Oklahoma Treasures gift store and online shop,” Roush says. “The gifts included porcelain china, holiday ornaments, scarves and ties.
“Cathy carried me from a one-of-a-kind business to mass production.”
One of Keating’s missions during her tenure as the state’s first lady was to not only refurbish the Governor’s Mansion but also put the history of Oklahoma back into the residence. Roush hand-painted porcelain chargers featuring the seals of the many Native American tribes that call Oklahoma home. Keating also commissioned Roush to hand paint the model for a five-piece place setting of Lenox china with an Oklahoma theme that could be used for formal dinners in the Phillips Pavilion on the mansion grounds.
Growing up in Tulsa, Roush says she had “a passion for all things porcelain,” starting with a teacup collection belonging to her grandmother.
“I started painting on porcelain as a newlywed, when I could not afford the expensive hand-painted tile I wanted to install in my kitchen,” she says. “So, I began working for designers and individuals, hand painting tile murals and sink basins for home and commercial use.
“I began moving more toward the gift market, and that coincided with Cathy inviting me to do projects for the mansion and other events.”
Roush has visited almost every major porcelain factory in Europe and has taken classes at some of those factories.
“I mostly use the French technique,” she says. “I order all my supplies from France. That includes the actual porcelain, paints, brushes and mediums. Almost everything I use in my studio is from Limoges, which is halfway from Paris to Provence.”
Since designing the porcelain dinnerware for the Governor’s Mansion, she has designed official commemorative porcelain items, some of which include dinnerware for The University of Tulsa, Oklahoma State University, The University of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club and Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.
It didn’t take long for Roush’s reputation as a fine porcelain artist to spread across the nation, attracting corporate and charitable organizations.
On a more personal level, she has done commissioned pieces for nationally known individuals such as Toby Keith, David and Molly Shi Boren, the Rev. Billy Graham, Bill Cosby, Kathie Lee Gifford, Reba McEntire, Barbara Walters, Margaret Thatcher, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Gen. Colin Powell, Queen Rania of Jordan and Christopher Radko.
Roush is still sometimes amazed at how one simple Limoges box has changed her life and given her artistic talent an international reputation.
More important to Roush, though, is her friendship with Keating, which she treasures.
“Cathy Keating refurbished a state treasure and gave the mansion a sense of Oklahoma history,” she says. “I’m proud to have been a small part of that project.”
