The connection between the Art World & Tea Land has been one of my main blog themes. It was tea in art that lured me to the leaf. So, it gives me great pleasure to observe how this is being celebrated in at least two different California venues this month. One is Northern California and the other in Southern California. One is a very prestigious exhibition and the other is an intimate studio gathering. But both generate a dynamic conversation between visual arts and the ancient brew.

Community Art Studio Tea Show

On the small town scene, in my local community, the sister cities of Nevada City & Grass Valley, CA, our cooperative studio, Asif Studio, is opening a Tea Pot Show on August 28th which will run through October 2nd. They will feature functional, sculptural & conceptual works Inspired by the spirit of Tea! Visual Artists, Poets, Authors, Tea & Art Historians will gather at the opening to celebrate, educate and enjoy exceptional teas, fine art and poetry.

Twenty-five artists will show their visions of tea in a fascinating collection. And it will be an opportunity for me to serve several different types of tea and speak about some of the countries of origin.

Traditional British style black tea with milk and sweeteners will be offered but there will also be demonstrations of both Chinese and Japanese teas - a Tie Guan Yin and a Matcha. Since many of the ceramic artists will be selling teacups, tea bowls and teapots, we will think that many patrons will enjoy their beverages of choice from their new art investments.

The cover art for the show program is an elegant teapot by ceramic artist, Volker Schrezenmeier.

It was experiences like this that led me to my own fascination with tea. I’ve been watching this experience in others for a couple of decades now. So, I suspect that others will come to an the open studio, drink tea and decide to try their hand at both creating the vessels and filling them with leaves from around the world.

Steeped In History: the Art of Tea

An exhibition at the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles opened this month and will run through November 29, 2009.

The show’s curator Beatrice Hohenegger, has chosen an interesting approach, using art to tell the 5000 history of tea. Beginning with the ancient Chinese legend of Shen Nong, she explores follows the tea routes through Japan and into the west.

“Tea was an exotic novelty, and no one knew what to make of it at first,” Hohenegger said.The survey of tea-inspired art is drawn from three continents and several centuries of art to illustrate the importance of our favorite brew to world culture. Beatrice Hohenegger, author of Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West (St. Martin’s Press, 2007). Ms. Hohenegger also edited the published show guide for the Fowler Museum, Steeped in History: The Art of Tea (ISBN: 978-0-9778344-1-9).

During the three-month of the exhibit, the Fowler Museum will also be offering numerous special tea-art events for both children and adults.

One other interesting partnership of note is that Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf provided tea service for the opening. Like my own tea service at the Asif Studio show, these are opportunities for tea businesses to make connections with art patrons - quite likely an interested audience in premium tea. Tea businesses and tea educators may want to be alert to possibilities for these types of exchanges.

One Last Word

Tea’s foundation in history and culture is one obvious inspiration for artists. And the wealth of inspired images in art available to the tea lover rewards the passion. But I continue to pin the ‘why’ question to the observation. What is it about tea. . . ?

This summer I joined Dan Robertson’s World Tea Tour to China, traveling with this question in mind. Touring tea gardens, factories, tea schools, tea wholesale markets, meeting tea masters, down to picking our own tea and molding our own puerh cakes encouraged me to continue to ponder. But I’m pleased to say that I returned with more questions.

This is a good thing for a lifelong passion.

And I believe it’s good for artists as well.

Gan bei.

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