The Art of Tea

> Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by. Bentley and I just got back from our local Farmers Market where I found some lovely red roses and yummy homemade pastries. Friends are stopping by for tea and I would love for you to come in and have a cup with us.




I was so happy to find theses beautiful and fragrant red roses at the market. My roses have been cut back for the winter and I love having fresh flowers in my home.

My Mother's parents were from Ireland and I grew up in a home where the simple act of pouring and sharing a cup of tea with family and friends represented love and friendship. My sister and I learned to love the tradition of pouring tea at an early age when we served "watered down" tea in the little play cottage our father built for us.

I learned from my Mother that teatime can be anytime and does not have to be fancy to enjoy fellowship with friends. Today, on the spur of the moment, I invited my friends that I went to the Farmers Market with in for a cup of tea. Nothing fancy - just a nice cup of hot tea and some of the pastries purchased from the Farmers Market.



I put the red roses in a vase and set out a vintage tablecloth on a side table in my living room and served the pastries on a cake plate to add a festive touch.

Just for fun I put Bentley's home made peanut butter dog biscuit from the Farmers Market on the table.

In less that 5 minutes our casual tea table had been set and we were ready to celebrate our morning of shopping in my cozy living room out of the cold damp weather.

Bentley was waiting patiently for his peanut butter dog biscuit treat.

I call my living room "my reading room". I do not have a television in the room and have lots of books stacked here and there (note the stacks of books stored under the tea table). It is not unusual for family and friends to sit in the room sipping a cup of tea in front of the fire and reading for hours on end.

One of my friends remarked "you should name your blog post today THE ART OF TEA and share with your readers how your love for tea shows up in your paintings".


Finding inspiration . . . . . .

Here . . . . .

There . . . . . .

Everywhere . . . .

Tea tip I learned from my Mother - always rinse out your teakettle and refill with fresh water. Pour very hot tap water into your teapot to warm it and pour it out - add tea - loose or tea bags and then pour the boiling water into the tea pot to brew. Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visit, comments and those who are following my blog. Please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail if you would like to see me paint something special.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED - In answer to comments and e-mail questions about my camera and photographs - I use a Nikon D 40 digital with manual and automatic settings.
I am learning to use the manual settings, however, most of the photographs on my blog were taken on "automatic". The walls in my home are all white and I find it difficult to photograph inside my home - the white wall are a great backdrop for my colorful art, however, they make photographing a challenge. I am working at changing settings on my camera to improve the inside photographs.

I have a subscription to the magazine "Artful Blogging" published by

http://stampington.com/.

The magazine has fabulous tips for blog photos. One of my favorite tips is to take photos in natural light - I do not use the flash and hold my hand over the flash if it goes on to keep the camera from flashing. I try to shoot outside as much as possible. Another tip from the magazine is to use a close up view over a full view.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin