The Tea Industry is its own world-wide-web; a network necessary to bring the product from field to cup. Let us assume for the moment that this network is actually the Spirit of Tea.

For countries of origin, places where tea is grown, the time and distance between the freshly picked leaf and the brew in the cup are short. The process visible. The hands involved all rather well known. And the importance of tea in daily life is undisputed. Those of us who do not live within picking distance of a plantation must depend on the industry’s network bring tea to us. Whether we buy teabags at the grocery store or loose leaves from specialty teashops, we must trust the experience and integrity of the purveyor. Or we must educate ourselves enough to discern a tea’s quality and value. Actually, it’s a bit of both.

This article was inspired by a discussion on one of the LinkedIn tea groups - Tea Enthusiasts and Entrepreneurs. Quality Matters. It was started by Kim Jage as a possible theme for the upcoming World Tea Expo.

One interesting point was that high price does not = quality. Giving the consumer what she/he wants at a fair price is the key. We have tasted the trash tea cutely packaged and priced as something it cannot live up to. Not the tea’s fault. On the other hand, there are specialty teas that most consumers cannot appreciate - yet. This is the challenge tea presents. How do we respect and value such a broad spectrum of tea experiences?

A comment from this on-going discussion came from Ruben Marley, comparing tea to wine:

Whether these wines were high or low-end was almost never a real factor in the final results of our efforts… the bottom line was always based upon the level and quality of education we gave our customers. I think tea is no different, because it offers a full range of product to suit anyone’s taste or budget.

Perhaps it is because tea is associated with many spiritual traditions and deeply rooted cultural experiences that we want to hold it to a high standard of integrity in business. Some of us may feel drawn to the world of tea with a belief that we are inherently networked through a loftier business model.  We’re looking to escape the world of unconscious marketing - promise and package anything to make the sale.

Quality Education & Quality Information

One of my good friends in Tea Land, Amy Lawrence of An Afternoon to Remember, was asked by a Sacramento TV station to come on their morning show and tell the audience that all tea was the same. She refused to make this statement but he still allowed her on the show and still tried to bully her into saying that all teas are equal. She defended the position.

If we allow the public to believe that all teas are equal, we are injuring the spirit and beauty of tea and the potential for the industry.

Our strength is in the diversity of product quality and a culture experience that connects the entire world. Just as we are drawn to an assumption of quality in tea and a desire to trust the packaging claims and marketing spiels, so are the new consumers exploring beyond the grocery store shelves into the larger world of tea.

The Spirit of Tea seems to attract an educated and inquisitive imbiber. We have lured them away from other beverages with the promise of health benefits and the allure of traveling the world through their teacup.

We don’t have to be snobs.

My last post featured some of the tea books for children. It’s a niche I’ve chosen for myself. Or maybe it chose me. Either way - one of the remarkable things about introducing children to the whole world of tea is their delight with the legends and fascination with the differences. They’re a long way from feeling like they have to choose between one way or another. They want it all. Even young children are excited to try something new. One cautious sip might be enough. Or, if I show them the tiny rosebuds in the oolong, it could become there new favorite of the day. Tomorrow it could be a tea with chunks of apple and cranberries. The next day a child might want to watch a tied tea flower open and taste the interesting blend of green tea and osmanthus flower. One of my 5-yr-old friends just loves saying the word lychee. His older brother will drink anything if he can stir the teacup with a whole cinnamon stick. Their sister likes to unfold the reconstituted leaf. She considers that she has “won” if she finds two leaves still attached to a bit of stem.

In the Spirit of Tea, I know I can give them a quality tea at a price their parents can afford. It’s do-able. And I believe that the wealth of tea experiences can keep them interested and satisfied for the rest of their lives.

It’s not easy but it is fun.

So, now I’m precariously perched on my soap box - or my tea crate. I have to add that tea isn’t easy. There’s a lot to know and here in the US, we’re still relatively young. We’re like children in many ways depending on others to help us understand “quality”. But this year TEAUSA and the Specialty Tea Institute have graduated 35 students through Level 3 - teachers who have invested in something comparable to a college curriculum in tea. We’re preparing for the 8th World Tea Expo where tea pros gather to taste, learn and celebrate this spirit we share. It bridges the gap between the retailers and the plantations be luring people from all around the world to display and sample the newest teas. There are more tea books, tea artists and tea educators every year. We’re all starting to experience a more educated consumer and appreciate the physical and virtual resources available to stay current.

A writer friend recently asked me if I don’t get bored writing about tea?

No.

I love tea. Don’t you?

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 Chachaji’s Cup by Uma Krishnaswami

ISBN-13: 978-0892391783  Children’s Book Press (March 2003) Ages 4-8

One of the most delightful and unusual twists on this is  Chachaji’s Cup by Uma Krishnaswami. It is a family story in which a careless boy breaks his uncle’s treasured teacup. A sad moment becomes an opportunity to better understand the meaning of their family history and legacy.

The book has been chosen for a transformational project, “TEA WITH CHACHAJI - a Making Books Sing”. It will be turned into a Broadway musical. It will become part of a 14 year history of this group’s commitment to great stories. The Lyrics will be written by Gwynne Watkins and the music by Denver Casado. Performances begin this month (January 2010) in New York City where more than 12,000 school children will have the opportunity to attend performances. Then, in February, the show will travel to the West Coast - Stanford University. 

http://losangeles.broadwayworld.com/article

Can you think of a better way to celebrate Hot Tea Month than introducing young children to the amazing culture of tea? Fortunately, I can offer some additional new books by devoted tea lovers and great writers.

Nature’s Royal Tea Party by Cheryl Kling

Another wonderful tea story for young children both written and illustrated by Cheryl Kling is Nature’s Royal Tea Party. Kling has given center stage to Mother Nature’s royal court - such as Queen Bee, Frog Prince, Monarch Butterfly. They are preparing to welcome a special guest.
Through this fanciful experience, the idea of sharing tea as a part of playtime is inspired. From there, parents and grandparents have an opportunity to develop the joys and benefits of a family teatime as part of every-day life.

As the story goes, Little Firefly enjoys a private cuppa while she wishes that she be invited to join the royal gathering. I loved the idea of tea wishing. Haven’t you also spent some quiet time imagining and wishing for something special to happen or a problem to be solved? I think that we parents and grandparents frequently look for ways to help children relax. I found myself appreciating this example of stopping to have a cuppa to focus on a desired outcome. It’s delightful to discover something so fanciful that is also very practical.

Author, Cheryl Kling is now actively promoting her new book and the special spirit of tea at bookstores and fairs, gatherings of all ages. With her books and speaking, she is finding new tea lovers - one cup at a time.

Mr. Putter & Tabby Pour The Tea by Cynthia Rylant

Ages 6 to 9. Harcourt, 1994, 0-15-200901-9

There’s also a series of books - Mr. Putter & Tabby - that started with Mr. Putter & Tabby Pour The Tea. Mr. Putter is lonely and wants someone to share his tea and muffins. By adopting an older cat, he finds a companion who loves his teatime. Of course, Mr. Putter loves his muffins with jam while Tabby prefers cream cheese.

But the endearing quality of sharing tea with a friend is the central theme. And this particular story helps us cross the gender and generation gap from teatime being limited to little girls and grannies.

I know that this discussion is a bit self-serving. But I believe this is an important topic, even if it wasn’t my particular tea-writing niche. I’m happy to find other authors who incorporate a tea theme into their stories for young children. For me, recognizing these titles aren’t simply book reviews. They are ways in which we can reach out to the upcoming generations of tea lovers.

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Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, Morning Refuge, 2009
Polymer clay, wire, thread, card stock
7.75”H x 12.5”W x 5.25” D

Jeff wrote:
“… these teapots grew out of this past years explorations of small sculptural forms for my installation piece “Edensong Reverie”, at the Fuller Craft Museum. Echoes of the base and pot forms can be traced directly to that piece. I wanted to try to capture the same sense of movement and interplay between the various elements. Simultaneously random and harmonious, not unlike a chance encounter on a woodland stroll.”

Queen Victoria Jubilee Teapot

Made to commemorate the 1897 Diamond Jubilee by Copeland Spode.
Sold on eBay 4th June for £90.00 [US $176.85]

One interesting aspect of the reviews on this blog is how some are given amazing detail; others very little. I thought the additional comment of how much this piece sold for on EBay was interesting.And I think that sometimes the craftsmen who stress function in their design are sometimes less appreciated than deserved.

Or, sometimes there are just rare bargains on EBay

Peter Shire

Peter Shire teapot made circa 1983. Sold at auction at Los Angeles Modern Auctions in West Hollywood California for US $1,500.00 June 29th 2008
Estimate:US $1,800.00 - US $2,500.00

“Mystical absurdism, amazing, astounding phenomena on a human scale and what is funny about the way we love and hate industrial things…is what interests me.”
-Peter Shire

Since the 1970’s, Peter Shire (b. 1947) has been working at an intersection. Where craft, fine art, and industrial design collide, he has built his career, drawing freely from each area without taking any of it too seriously. He has had forays into architecture, furniture, and fashion, but he keeps returning to ceramics. Like his home and studio in the Los Angeles suburb of Echo Park, clay is one medium he knows he will never leave.

Adrien Miller

Bodhisattva Teapot

Fine handmade works by Seattle artist Adrien Miller, for peace and presence of mind.
To see more of his teapots visit his Etsy shop.

The Kamm Teapot Collection itself now houses more than 6000 teapots. It is dedicated to the art and history of tea and of the teapot and takes pride in having produced some of the best and most memorable traveling exhibitions from their collected works. It is housed in the Sparta Teapot Museum of Art and Design, Sparta, North Carolina. I’m looking forward to making a pilgrimage in the near future. But I’d also love to hear comments from anyone who has already discovered this Tea Land Treasure.

The managers of the collection do give us one back-room glimpse.

Barbara Fender is helping Mary Douglas, curator of the Sparta Teapot Museum, by unpacking hundreds of boxes that contain the Kamm teapot collection.
A tractor-trailer load—1,600 boxes of padded and packed teapots—arrived in Sparta in May2005 and more arrive in the mail almost every day.

Now, if they just serve an interesting cuppa . . .

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San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 2009 - - - Excerpt from the daily column by Leah Garchik

Judith Ets-Hokin, well known around here as a cooking teacher, is running a furniture showroom in High Point, N.C. Catering an office lunch there one day, she called a food provisioner, whose offerings included “a gallon of ’sweet tea.’ ” Is that green tea? she asked. Black tea? There was silence.

“Actually, no one’s ever asked that,” said the caterer. “It looks kind of brown.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/28/DDB61A9FTR.DTL#ixzz0VQJHJKRj

Items like this remind me that a great many people still know very little about tea. But it’s also encouraging that someone else found it amusing; amusing enough write about it in a major metro newspaper column. Tea is so often regarded in stereotype that it can be assumed there is little more to know. There are questions that the greatest number of people choosing beverages haven’t thought to ask. They have no idea how much they don’t know. And we who delight in the Tea Land adventure can easily forget what the experience of the portal is like.

Study tea? Teach tea? It does generate a few odd smiles and chortles. If you’re familiar with World Tea News - and reading this blog - then the differences between green & black may seem basic and boring. You’ve probably moved on to the nuances of Oolong and the delicacies of Darjeeling. Until recently we’ve been a rather small circle of devotees. That’s changing along with our image. We’re not just Granny’s antique teapot and crumpets. There are many more choices. And there is also a gigantic gap in the way people perceive tea.

But what about humor? Where’s the chuckle in tea? When does our Lovely Leaf find it’s way into a Letterman monologue? How might Ellen open her show with a tea theme? It could happen. I think Tea (not the actress) would want it that way.

Smiling At The Conundrum

Those of us who delight in sharing a world view of tea from exotic places around the world are finding more opportunities to speak to people who aren’t sure about the difference between black & green. Where do you begin? Remember - you have to maintain a sense of humor.

When I give talks to groups, I have to remember that most of the people in the room haven’t spent much time thinking about the difference between black and green. I’m displaying trays of fresh leaf to people who are accustomed to paying about $5 for one of the grocery store boxes of bags. “How much per pound!?!” In most venues I dare not confess how much I spend for fine teas. They often ask if I ever drink “regular” tea. “Or do you always take you own tea with you?” They’re asking if I’m what they would consider a tea snob. Am I looking down on them or what they stock in their cupboards? This is a good time to remember to laugh at myself for the extremes I go to in the name of tea.

I’ve started sharing some stories of traveling to see tea plantations at book signings. “You went all the way to China to look at tea plants!?!” Even people in China asked how much it cost to make the trip - just to experience tea in it’s natural habitat.

You gotta laugh. If you calculate how much premium tea that would have bought on the specialty tea market, you get the full LOL. Tea made me do it.

Thank you Tea. I’d go again in a heartbeat. Tea grows in some amazing places around the world. While there is great sadness on some political fronts, there is great beauty and joy in the daily life. I think I could retire to one of these places and spend my last days snapping off the delicate new leaves.

What would you do for Tea?

My current favorite tea-travel story is the hike to The King Of Tea Trees. (See right.) The journey to this 1700 year old tree is more of a pilgrimage. And this time it’s not about picking the leaves.

Hidden in the jungle on the southern border of China in Yunnan Province is the oldest tea tree we know of. It’s been allowed to grow to full height - not groomed as a dwarf for the convenience of harvest. If you were strolling by, you wouldn’t recognize this as a tea tree. But you wouldn’t be strolling by. This one is definitely not listed in the tourist guides.

First a flight to the closest city, Xi Shuang Ban Na, in the southernmost part of Yunnan Province. Then a white-knuckle bus ride up the mountain - through tea covered mountains - to the place where the bus can no longer go. Then a 1½ hour hike to the King Of Trees. Of note, that was a hike through the jungle in the rain with several creek-hopping and mus-sliding adventures. And leeches! Our guides told us that, had the trees not been shrouded in heavy mist, we would have been able to see over the border into Myanmar and possibly Laos.

When you travel with serious tea people, it’s not all sitting around in elegant teashops sipping from lovely porcelain. That’s what I love most about the Spirit of Tea. Extremes. Tea can take you to places you never imagined. In the cup and on the road. And one of the bridges between the the many worlds of tea must be a good laugh.

I’m convinced that the Spirit of Tea has a magnificent sense of humor. Heard any good tea jokes lately?

How many Tea Masters does it take to change a light bulb?

Did you hear the one about the two tea growers from Sri Lanka?

And then the Duchess said to the Queen, “My but your tea is very . . .”

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! (A little Expo humor would be nice!)

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Tea Pro?

What is a tea professional? Which school? How much travel? Required texts? What’s your niche? How many years have you been in the business? With whom have you studied? How much has it cost? Can you tell a Darjeeling from a Da Hong Pao? How many countries of origin can you list without a cheat sheet? And, just how much tea do you have to drink to become a Tea Master?

What the heck is a Tea Master, anyhow?

There’s a new book, “The Meaning of Tea” (based on the documentary film) by  Scott Chamberlin Hoyt and Phil Cousineau with several inspiring conversations and the following dedication.

“This book is dedicated to the great tea masters

who made possible today’s cup of tea.”

But there is no convenient list of approved tea saints.

It is a collection of conversations with people from around the world for whom tea is an important aspect. Tea has meaning in their daily lives. Each of the selections is inspiring. Some of them I have met. All of them are people who share a passion for tea. Through the luxury of the film and now this text, we almost feel as if we are sharing a warm, soothing cup and a lazy afternoon with friends around the world.

I believe the un-named tea masters to whom this book is dedicated would be pleased.

So I ask in the Spirit of Tea . . .

What are our shared beliefs about Tea Masters? Tea professionalism? Tea education? Spreading the passion and joy of tea?

•   There are masters of particular tea gardens who direct the growing and processing of their own products.

•   There are masters of the different cultural ceremonies.

•   There are teachers who are so knowledgeable in a particular niche that they have earned the respect of the industry.

•   There are people who study and teach, import and distribute, and in other ways work a broader aspect of the world of tea who are probably due the respect the bestow upon the ancients.

More . . . ? 

Yes, of course there is.

My intention is to incite more discussion. We should be scrutinizing the leaders and educators of the tea industry? Those who speak for tea & market tea & teach tea should have some basic credentials. Tea Master? There are so few true masters that the opportunity to study in their company would be rare. We are left with the comparing notes on tea experiences with the most available teachers. But even then, the opportunities are so limited.

Beyond the World Tea Expo that brings together some of the most recognizable names with proven authority, and, in addition to the Specialty Tea Institute which has developed a series of courses with graded levels from Intro to Somewhat More Informed, many of us are seeking something deeper. Someone who lives in tea and cradles the heart and soul of it. A Master. But the realty of the World of Tea is that it is much too vast for any one person to be master of it all.

We find a niche in which we are comfortable. We align ourselves with others who have carved out a bit of the path. We travel to countries of origin. We drink a lot of tea. We drink as much tea as possible with tea people who want to talk and teach tea. We find people who share the calling and ignore the sneers of those who would jeer, “You did WHAT for tea? You paid HOW MUCH for that 2 oz. package? You hiked HOW FAR and THROUGH WHAT JUNGLE to visit some old tea tree” Are we searching for a Tea Master? Tasting teas created at the hands of a true Tea Master?

So . . . ?

As I read through The Meaning of Tea, I find myself coming to come rather abstract conclusions. There are about fifty interviews with people around the world whose lives are enriched by tea. Each one of them has given me another nugget of tea wisdom to add to my own experience. And I hope that I, in my writing, will pass this along. A mastery of tea exists in something shared as deeply and broadly as possible. We all sense the Spirit of Tea when the shared experience has a resonance of truth that infuses with what we already hold dear.

I opened the book expecting to feel intimidated by the esotericism of artisan teas. But there were also interviews with young boys in France, hipsters in Japan, grandmothers in Tea, South Dakota (the town with a great name and a tea festival) and kids who prefer bubble tea. I was charmed and intrigued at how the peaceful sense of bringing the world together with tea came alive on the pages.

As much as I would like to sit at the feet of the masters, there is great pleasure to be reminded that everyone who finds themselves called to live and work in Tea Land has a place. We’re carving out those places for ourselves and defining what it takes to be considered a reputable pro in the biz. But there is a risk. As in industry we leave ourselves open to frauds looking to make a fast buck. And the worst thing we can do is to overstate our expertise and mislead a vulnerable public, just now becoming interested in tea.

Are there living Tea Masters? Or, is it a league of old Tea Masters who call us all to the Spirit of Tea? Maybe we’re all seeking this kind of umbrella organization but do we really want to put someone in charge? I like the idea of sharing tea wisdom with people from around the world.

And I join Scott Chamberlin Hoyt and Phil Cousineau and the others working on the Meaning Of Tea Project in appreciation for the centuries of mastery keeping the artistry and integrity of tea intact for our time. And may we each find our right place here.

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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 and degree of professional experience. Some have been exhibiting their work for many years. For some, this is the first time they have shared their work publicly.

All of them use the teapot for creative inspiration in this show, “Art of Tea”.

One of the most unusual pieces was a charcoal painting titled, “The Spirit of Tea” by John Hoft.

Below it are several ceramic forms by various artists.

The most difficult image to photograph was an outline of a teapot on the wall of one of the hallways. This teapot is made out of teabags fastened directly to the wall.

In the category of whimsy is a mosaic teabag - complete with staple and tag.

Whimsy was brewed in several pieces - like this fish teapot with matching cups.

These are just a few of the more traditional ceramic entries.

Shelves displayed nearly a hundred pieces in various mediums. The teapot on the left side of the top shelf is made of wood.

And the papers displayed on the side wall are tea poems.

But, with one final set of images, you can see what I mean about the diversity of exhibiting artists.

You can find shows like this in may small galleries, especially colleges and universities with art programs. I encourage tea lovers to seek out these events.

It’s especially nice to go with the question: What is it about tea?

As I was giving a short tea talk, someone in the audience asked it for me. To my delight a spontaneous discussion followed. I could close my part of the presentation with a simple, “I’ve been asking myself that for a long time.”

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I recently returned from my first trip to a country of origin, China. This kind of travel is something every tea-person I know has done or has on their short list. And it is still difficult to put my passport away. I would be on the next flight to somewhere in Tea Land in the blink of an eye. I had imagined that there would be something almost sacred for me about walking through a tea garden. I wasn’t disappointed; walking through hillside gardens, picking tea, processing our own tea, meeting the pickers and the processors, interviewing the owners, cupping. It was all amazing.

We became known as the International Tea Delegation. What an honor. It was also a surprise. And it is the way in which we were welcomed in a great variety of situations that prompts me to include this as part of my spirit of tea commentaries. I leave details of the tea gardens and tasting rooms to others. I joined the My reasons for joining group were different; searching for what is drawing me more deeply into this lifelong study of our common leaf. I lost count of the number of tea gardens we visited and I have yet to organize the photos and collection of precious tea memories. There are so many. But I break with tradition in the telling of tales and travel talk. I will start at the end with a bit about my last cup of tea in China.

In A Small Village

After two weeks, I left the delegation to spend 5 days in a small tea village. My hosts were a family who had spent their lives surrounded by tea. Growing and processing. They made me a welcome guest. Our main activities were walking through their hillside farms; tea plants patchworked between bamboo and other vegetables. They allowed me the luxury of living the daily life surrounded by tea. How is tea different when it is your livelihood? How do you prepare tea when it grows at your doorstep? What changes when you drink the tea you spend months picking and processing? There were times when I thought I was trying too hard to find something of spirit in everyday life? And other times I stumbled into experiences that were certainly examples of tea-centered community. It wasn’t the harvest, they reminded me. Anything picked or processed now would not be good tea. But people still picked the fresh leaves and wok-dried it in their kitchens and enjoyed a fresh green tea not available to us. A day in the life in a small village. Remarkable to me.

I visited their Buddhist temple. This is an image of three cups of tea on the table in front of one of the large sculptures. I won’t attempt to explain the significance since there was no translator present. My assumptions may be misleading. But the experience took me back to Greg Mortenson’s book, “Three Cups Of Tea”. In his experience, by the third cup of tea, we are more than friends.

Tea takes us places and presents opportunities, even without words, to become something a bit more than friends.

This village is Huangting in the Fujian Province. Their tea is all organic, as is everything grown in the village. They produce a beautiful green tea with pride. I had tasted the limited export before visiting China and had tried to imagine what the soil, climate and people must be like. Now, I am able to drink the same tea and remember the mist. “Good for the tea,” people in the family said as we watched the fields disappear behind the gray.

Our tea times were usually in the late afternoons and then after dinner. Mr. Hu, my guide and a tea professional with expertise in many areas of tea and art prepared the tea with the elegance a simple gaiwan. My hosts were also his parents and most of the people in the village were relatives. Somewhere between the three cups of tea in the temple and the quiet of tea at home, I learned quite a bit more about tea. We exchanged information about how differently we prepared tea. I had samples of Chinese tea that had been flavored to US tastes. And I described some of the ways we brew and steep. Iced tea. Southern style Sweet Tea. Lemon. Sugar. Cups and saucers. Steeping for 5 minutes. Very different. But he seemed to appreciate knowing more about the changes in tea after it left China. Or, he was being kind.

My Last Cup of Tea In China

For my last night, he selected a green tea – a Qing Ming Tea. It had been picked in late March during the two weeks prior to the annual ceremony to remember and honor the ancestors. It is the first tea after the sleeping season of winter during which time it is believed the plant has the opportunity to store more nutrients and more “spirit”.

One of the Qing Ming legends I had been told was that drinking this tea can give you nightmares. My interpreter said that nightmare wasn’t quite right – more like experiences – not really dreams.

Mr. Hu prepared 7 infusions while I shared my photos of the tour through tea fields.

I had come to China to research my next book and with a quest to learn more about the spiritual nature of tea. And on this last day, my patient guide finally explained how people in China feel about tea.

“There are at least four ways of appreciating tea. Some drink it merely as a beverage to quench thirst. Some are convinced it will improve their health. Some high level businessmen use very expensive and elegant teas as part of business negotiations. Many important contracts are signed over tea ceremony. And there are also people who are deeply spiritual about the tea.”

In the country credited as the birthplace of tea, where tea gardens wrap almost every hillside and there are teashops in even the smallest village, this wasn’t what I expected to hear.

I started writing this on the flight between Bejiing and Los Angeles, still feeling sad to leave. Crossing the date line we turn the clock back and claim a part of the previous day. With my extra time, I thought about that last cup of tea. And the notes for this blog post remained unfinished. What to say?

I can still taste it. We were sitting on small stools around a wooden table; a family preparing to say goodnight and a guest preparing to leave.

I decided to say that we shared tea.

It seemed to be what was most important.

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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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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 interpreting the teapot form in sculptural media. I confess that I was hoping for something more to the spiritual inspiration rather than a tea company’s marketing program. On the other hand, I felt great pride in tea industry that one of the major companies found a way to reward serious artists. The contests continued for about 5 years and artists from every medium were acknowledged. Twenty - thirty works would be selected from hundreds of entries. On the other hand, galleries and art museums have been featuring teapot art for many years. The fact that non-ceramic artists use it in their work isn’t surprising.

But Why Teapots?

It’s a comfortable and easily recognizable form.

They convey sincerity.

It’s a technically challenging form.

Teapots are serious and yet whimsical. . . . . Like tea!

But part of the reason artists create teapots is that museums and galleries organize teapot shows and collectors buy them. And the truth is that of the hundreds of serious teapot collectors in US, many don’t even drink tea.

In a History of Ceramics course I took in the late ’70s there was a story of Kasimir Malevich, a Russian abstract artist (1878-1935) who was asked to design a teapot for factory production. When it was discovered that the teapot didn’t pour well, Malevich is said to have replied, “It’s not about the tea. It’s about the teapot.” Malevich did create several functional designs which are still produced by the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Functional, yes. But they aren’t your grandmother’s traditional teapot. The white cups and pot are a current version of his original, selling today for about $500. Looking at it again, I have to remind myself that this work piece was designed almost a hundred years ago.

Media hype? No.

And I believe that this piece is evidence that there is something in the brewing of tea that intrinsically inspires creativity.

Kate Anderson is another extremely non-traditional teapot artist. Her work is waxed and knotted fiber. She began the series in 1988 and has created a body of work seen in major galleries and highly valued by these non-tea-imbibing collectors.

“Making sculptural art forms by utilizing the repetitive basketry technique called knotting forms the basis of my work regarding content and the blurred edges where art and craft meet. High-art/low-art references come into play by utilizing the teapot, a common craft object, as my sculptural archetype juxtaposed with images appropriated from the world of “high art”. Quotation, allusion, abstraction, and art/craft references all play a part as the knotting process simultaneously creates both structure and image.“

I rem

ain convinced that it must be (as they say) “. . . something in the water!”

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And it is work like this which makes me ask my “Why Teapot?” question again and again.

Richard Marquis has had a profound influence over glass art in the United States and around the world. He was one of the first Americans to study in Venice with the masters of hot glass. Known for their goblets, I cannot help but smile at the addition of little teapots in the stems of elegant glass bowls on pedestals. Whatever his intention for these, I am filled with delight.

And teapots as trophies.

I wanted to share this work with you tea lovers because I believe it will make you smile. And because I feel like tea is being honored when an artist chooses elements of the traditions as part of their visual vocabulary.

Art as an industry, and particularly art education, is one area of our economic crisis being devastated. Art like this will become much more difficult to produce. Teachers and mentors like Richard Marquis will become rare. Some traditions are in danger of being lost from lack of appreciation.

So, I was wondering . . . could it be that the world’s image of tea lovers is that they also have a greater appreciation for the arts?

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