Tea Journey

Art Progress: “Grandpa’s Tea”

For a few months now I have been wanting to put this piece in ink. It came out of love for my Grandfather who passed a few years ago. He was an honest and simple man who had lived through the World Wars. With that it was second nature to reuse something as much as possible.
   For him it was very evident with his tea. I remember visiting him and seeing the spent tea bags drying out so they may be used again latter on. He continued this practice with a single teabag for an unknown amount of times.
   Tea for my family was a normal way to greet guests or end a meal. I feel so blessed to have had such a man as my Grandfather and I miss him dearly.
  It was very satisfying to see this work start (finally). Once everything is inked out the real task will be to portray how reusing tea so many times will effect the colour and taste.

“Grandpa’s Tea” WIP
 Ink on paper
8 x 10 Inches

In the Studio: Tea Swatches!

         In case you are new to my humble little part of the web, My artistic practice is based on tea and it includes it as a medium at times. Over the past few weeks, while writing a grant, I decided I needed a guide for future works.
      Above is a start to this idea. I feel that I will need to get a small watercolor sketchbook to use just for this purpose. When I have notes like this in a larger sketchbook it gets lost when I no longer am working in that book. Pocket Moleskines are great for this kind of reference. They fit in your pocket, you can have them close at hand in the studio and they take up no space in a bag.
        So, why do I paint with tea? My main medium is Japanese Sumi ink, and it has a coldness to it. Tea warms it up and creates a balance. There are many different colours that can be achieved with all the varieties of tea out there. The only true problems I have run into is using berry/hibiscus based tea and matcha. Both change color after they dry and have been exposed to air for a while. Matcha changes to an odd brown and berry/hibiscus changes to  a blue/indigo.
   In this instance it makes sense why I should have this little reference on hand, especially when working into the wee hours of the morning.
   

Working with water

 This year has been great. I have joined the AGO and the South Asian Visual Art Centre. In addition to attending great workshops, documenting and  self-mentoring.
    To begin the year I showed Hysteria that was a return to an old process that I used. One of which I am working on still on the side.
    My other work is branching out slowly. Watercolour has come back into my work, and I need to understand it more. Just as I need to learn more about sumi-e ink, I hope to play, make mistakes and possibly take more classes on them. This coming year is very important to me as I am turning 25. No longer am I a young adult but a full adult. Its time to make everything fall into place, a lot is planned for 2012. I have a whole to-do list dedicated just to my art practice which is displayed in large print on my wall next to my desk. Seeing it since I printed it just reminds me of how much needs to get done for the more technical side of art. Website, professional business cards and networking sites. Everything links together.  Exciting! Exciting things are going to happen.
                    Over the next day or so I will be finishing a work for a e-card for my mailing list. I have added a few people whom I hope want to be included but this initial Holiday “card” will allow them to opt out if they so please.  If you would like to be added to my list I have a link to the right of my blog for you.
    It has been a long few weeks leading up to the holidays. I am off to be for the night to be prepared for another day of work Studio and Work-Work. Happy Holidays everyone~

At it~


Just a quick update. Finished study above and my mini studio below. Picked up my piece from the gallery today, I coming back to me has given me the push I need to figure out how I want this new style to go. Colour is working, but I just need to find the balance of it and how much (or how little) detail to put into the works. I hope to finish the second study tommorow (today rather) before heading out to a tea tasting downtown. Really looking forward to the next pay day at the end of this month. A new easel could be in my future, or re-arrange things and bring my big one here. Choices, till next time~

Grid progression and development of style


Working on studies >.<
How the grid looked last Friday.