OBITUARIES: DECATUR: Amy Lakides, famed porcelain painter

There often was a waiting list to get into Amy Lakides’ art classes. The Australian-born porcelain painter, who initially had a studio on Howell Mill Road, attracted students from across the Southeast.

In the early 1970s, Vera Ables Gandy and three lady friends would drive to Atlanta from Rome to take lessons from an artist who gave lectures, seminars and demonstrations around the world.

“It was very hard to get into her classes,” said Mrs. Gandy, who eventually moved to Atlanta and befriended Lakides. “You couldn’t get in when she first moved to Atlanta. I later became a teacher of porcelain art, thanks to her. We spent many Saturdays together painting and shopping. We had a special bond.”

Amy M. Lakides, 90, of Decatur died Feb. 5 from complications of heart failure at Hospice Atlanta. The funeral will be 2 p.m. March 1 at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Cremation Society of Georgia is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Lakides moved to Atlanta at the urging of a Buckhead couple who’d purchased some of her artwork while attending a convention in Australia. Her reputation in the art world was already established, thanks to shows she’d headlined in New Zealand, England, the United States and elsewhere. Some of her studies, circa 1975, are listed for sale on eBay.

Besides porcelain, Mrs. Lakides painted designs on silk, murals, floors and furniture. Admirers say her decorative style and technique was natural, steeped in realism. And because of that, a rose she painted would look like a rose, “even down to the rose hip,” said Janet Kellett of North Florida. She took classes from Mrs. Lakides when she lived in Atlanta.

“She had a soft, natural touch,” Mrs. Kellett said.

In recent years, Mrs. Gandy said she’d take Mrs. Lakides to buy groceries and run errands on Saturdays. Sometimes they’d step into her studio.

“The last time we painted was Jan. 3,” Mrs. Gandy said. “She painted on a humongous vase. It is absolutely gorgeous.”

Mrs. Lakides was a past president of the Atlanta Porcelain Art Association as well as the Georgia Porcelain Art Teachers. She held international posts as well, among them the presidency of the Western Australia Guild of Porcelain Artists.

In 1991, Mrs. Lakides, along with dozens of others, founded Australians Within Atlanta, a social group to connect natives of Australia in the city. She’d been the group’s oldest member, said Lyn Coltman of Dunwoody.

“The group was our means of connecting and keeping in touch with home,” she said. “Amy loved Australia.”

Survivors include a son, Anthony Lakides of Stockholm, Sweden, and one granddaughter.