Almost everyone in Tea Land is in a bit of a frenzy preparing for Expo. I realized several weeks had snuck by without posting a new article. It seems like the perfect time to turn back to the original and constant question for this blog:

What’s the big deal about tea that inspires artists and writers?

Indeed, the wares of tea are objects ‘d art and collectibles in their own right. Teapots… read more...

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And what do Antique Tractor Pulls, Block Parties, Card Parties, Fireworks, Car Shows, Parades, Wrestling and Pet Shows have in common with Tea?

The answer is, the Trenton Tennessee Teapot Festival.  This year’s annual week-long festival will begin on April 26th. And the list of events for every day fills the entire week. And all of the above… read more...

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My favorite answer to - What is Art? - is merging of uncommon elements in a new and meaningful way. The new part was usually easy. Meaningful was more difficult and risky. But I was starting to drink more tea in the early ’80s and it inspired me toward risk.

One early series of sculptural teapots was made by castings of sewer lids and industrial sized plumbing parts and putting them… read more...

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Name Dropping in Tea-Land

As mentioned in my previous blog, I had the opportunity to cavort with The Spirit of Tea in January. And Tea seems to share my love of love The City By The Bay. There’s now a book about it.

“The Way To Tea: Your Adventure Guide To San Francisco Tea Culture” is… read more...

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In the space of one week, I enjoyed two tea extremes. They got my attention so I started sorting through the details for meaning and hoped for a sign from The Spirit of Tea.

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On January 18th, I was one of the first attendees through the door into the Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. Among the thousand-plus vendors… read more...

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It happened on Saturday . . .

First, there was a bit of tea poetry on the radio.

I was driving to Sacramento, CA yesterday listening to NPR Saturday morning talk radio. There was a short intro to an upcoming story that I wish I could have recorded. Alas. This was not one of their recorded MP3 files.

The radio host asked the question, “Have there been… read more...

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One of the ways in which art is appreciated and discussed is based on its narrative quality. What story does it tell visually? No words. We are led through the comments by elements that have become universal symbols. The teapot is a symbol recognized worldwide for peace and tranquility, for elegance and sophistication. And like tea, there is a rich history of dedicated artists recognized as masters of the sculptural… read more...

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Tea is finding a voice in a very contemporary art form.

This post is a slight deviation from my original question: What is it about tea that has inspired artists for thousands of years?  I’ve spent hours viewing some extremely contemporary tea inspired art and the motivation is totally transparent.

“Calm-A-Sutra” is a video competition… read more...

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There is great art in almost every aspect of tea. Growing, harvesting and processing tea is an art. Beauty and spiritual practice are interwoven into worldwide cultures celebrating tea with artistic expression. There is an art in distributing, packaging and selling tea to the consumer. And tea – the plant, the beverage and the practice of serving it – has inspired artists, writers and performers for thousands of years.

What… read more...

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