Because You Asked!

In one of my previous posts I mentioned a local gallery show with a teapot theme. I had a few emails and phone calls asking what it was like.

The following photos are from a recent show at the Asif Studio in Grass Valley, CA. The artists featured here collaborate, combining various genre, all relating to the teapot. The artists vary not only in medium but also in age… read more...

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I’ve been asking the question:  What is it about tea that inspires art?

My last post featured the glass teapot sculpture of Richard Marquis. Work like his and other fine artists who use the teapot as a theme for non-functional sculpture continues to intrigue me. An teapot artist friend recently suggested that it was the annual teapot competition created by Celestial Seasonings in the late 1990’s that fueled the popularity of… read more...

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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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I don’t usually post articles so close together, but this one will be short.

But timing is everything. So, if you still have the Sunday Funny Pages in the stack of recycling, check out “Luann” by Greg Evans. If that’s not an option, you can see the strip on the internet. It can be searched by date - March 22, 2009.

http://comics.com/luann/

I’m always on the lookout for ways in which… 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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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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