“The teapots and coffee pots I paint are usually silver-plated items that no one wants to polish anymore. I can make them pretty to look at although they are not usable anymore,” said Tubbs. She’s happy to recycle well-loved items and has enjoyed teaching others to do the same.
“Decorative painting is a dying art. Not many people do it anymore, and few teach it now,” she said. “I enjoy the satisfaction of getting a piece done — as well as making something beautiful out of what is no longer desired.
” Tubbs' first love has always been teaching. A graduate of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Ill.,, she taught 3rd and 4th grades in Hammond and South Holland and Bradley, Ill.
, for a few years before leaving the field to raise her children and do bookkeeping for her husband’s business. She also taught piano for about 15 years and decorative painting for 20. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack Though her style is often described as tole painting, or folk art on utensils and kitchenware, what she does is a little different.
“Technically tole is done on metal with oil paints and stroke work. Decorative painting is done on everyday items to embellish them,” she explained. “I have painted many chairs, tables and small chests as well as trays, ornaments, coffee pots and teapots.
I use acrylic paints.” A Lansing native, she moved to South Holland after college and lived there for 30 years. She has.
