by Kristan Obeng

Painter Jeffrey Axelrod shared his joy of painting using tea with World Tea Expo attendees in Las Vegas today.

Axelrod explained to an audience of a little more than 20 tea industry professionals that painting with tea “costs pennies once you start. My paint brush was 49 cents. I use 300-pound cotton rag paper that costs $6 as opposed to $15.”

Stephanie Thompson, an attendee from California who runs an online shop called Tea Lover Gift Baskets, said she enjoyed Axelrod’s presentation.

She added, “It was unique. I do handwritten thank you notes for my customers. I can try his technique. I also liked what he said about three dimensional objects.”

Axelrod held up various colorful jars of tea to show the audience what they looked like before he painted. He explained that he decorated the back of his business cards with his paintings and suggested that attendees add spice to their paintings by gluing old memorabilia onto their work.

Axelrod started painting with tea seven years ago as a hobby after he left the clothing manufacturing industry and traveled for a year.

“I’m ADD,” he said. “I can’t sit still for five seconds, but with art I can sit and do it for five hours. The TV can be on, and I won’t even know what language it’s in.”

Axelrod uses about 200 teas to paint. He uses tea from brands including Rishi Tea, Adagio and Rooibos Ltd. “Rooibos sent me pounds of tea because I go through a lot,” he said.

He mixes five to six teas in jars with a small amount of water to bring color to white paper. “You have to use more water if you use loose leaf tea,” he explained.

Axelrod said making mistakes isn’t an issue when painting with tea: “It’s not like water colors or acrylics. Put water on a paint brush, apply it, then the mistake disappears.”

He added that art made with tea can’t be replicated in water colors or acrylics.

A heater or blow dryer can be used to speed up the drying process once the art piece is finished, he said.

Best of all, the pigment appears to be tenacious. “I’ve never had my artwork fade,” Axelrod said.