Creative Tuesdays: Time for Tea

"Lords of Tea"

For the last week, I was thinking it would be great to actually show some men drinking tea, and not the landed gentry type might one commonly associate with high tea or such. No, I wanted to depict archetypes of men from American classical culture, to show that real men can enjoy tea as much as anyone. OK, so, admittedly, these aren't your normal sweatshirt wearing sports-buff types, but you will find vague references to even a grandfatherly Santa Clause, Abraham Lincolnish kind of lumberjack/Amish farmer, and a beatnik Professorial type intellectual! You see, Stateside at least, taking time for tea has been far too relegated to little old lady tea parties and such, but, like coffee, it's something to be enjoyed by anyone, alone or even better, among friends! It is the great equalizer of sorts, sophisticated yet understated. To me, its enjoyment defies your classic norm in a most appealing, mellow manner.

My hope is that if I should ever get to retire one day when old and grey, that I could find some kinfolk with whom to engage in stimulating conversation, play the occasional game of chess and perhaps even share portions of the paper with each other at our local coffee/tea shop. As it is, I actually know one retired architect who truly loves tea and might, lo and behold, possess even a better gift of witty banter than I! I know, I know... you must be thinking, that just can't be, right?! Heh. :) Well, regardless, we certainly can laugh and, along with tea, that's good medicine! :D

BTW, I owe this piece of art to my work computer having problems and IT having to sit down to tinker around with it all afternoon. Wanting to remain productive and guessing there might be some down-time, I took the opportunity to start sketching out this idea. Glad I did.

And, finally, speaking of tea time, we had our summer tea a little while ago. If you're at all interested and might enjoy seeing photos of our delightfully fun offerings, you can read more on our couple's blog. :)

Sip and Savour

Artist Unknown

Yesterday, after a tiring day at work, I met a friend at a newly opened bakery café. After ordering his stout made from the new microbrewery across the way, the cashier asked what I was having. To her apparent astonishment, I informed her that actually I don't like the taste or smell of beer! Amused, Mike piped in, "Well, he doesn't like camping or being out in the summer sun either!" Her cheeky reply? "Why are you in Colorado then?!" I had to chuckle, but it's true that this town has more microbreweries per capita than anywhere else in America, competing for that mantle with about one or two other places in the States. It goes without saying that if someone invites you out, invariably the rote suggestion is yet another bar or brewery. (It's akin to how one always hears the obligatory Lynyrd Skynyrd here.) We are a college town too which certainly doesn't help there either.

Whenever hearing such expectations, quietly a part of me kind of deflates inside. It's not that I terribly mind others enjoying beer (within moderation), mind you, rather, it's the seeming lack of imagination, or perhaps more so, variety of social suggestions! (After all, I never automatically assume everyone is going to be gung-ho to come do tea or coffee with me, for example.) Surely, there are some other people more akin to another culture, as it were, as the propensity of coffee shops around here also suggests? But yes, I do understand that for many there's nothing like "a cold one," especially when it's hot outside like it was today (95 F/35 C). In that case though, I'd far prefer cold water or coffee on ice, thank you! :) 

With all that said, do you ever feel like just putting your feet up, stopping for a while and taking a break or perhaps a more reflective muse... but with most likely a cuppa in hand instead? Well, now you can illustrate that with Creative Tuesdays' new theme, TIME FOR TEA (or COFFEE)! There are so many ways one can depict this. We'll raise our mugs to creativity then and explore this idea further. The fun will be coming back on Tuesday, June 21st, to see how just how we all do that. :) 

Fellow artists, breathe in, sip from your imagination, savour, and enjoy.

P.S. I'm loving the comments over on CT form this theme. Great feedback and nice to know we are not alone! :)

Creative Tuesdays: Children

On Top of the World

This idea came to mind when coming up with the CT theme last fortnight but at that point, this brother and sister were way up high in a tree overlooking their home and surrounding area, imagining theirs was the highest around. Even though it was their imagination, the parent in me wanted them to scurry down down right away! Hahaha. So, instead, I thought, how about have them looking at a building block landscape instead? :) Alex then had the idea of them being on a bunk bed... and many hours later, voila!

Unfortunately, as you can see, it's not quite finished. I had hoped to paint in the colour but some things came up this weekend that made it hard to find the time to do so. Well, I hope to do that later then. If so, I'll be sure to post that version too. 

How did your "children" renditions come along? I can't wait to see what each of you did. I was quite inspired creating this scene, thinking about how my daughter and hubs are expecting twins. And, actually, you know what? These are probably the best kids I've ever drawn! :) Wheeee...