The Kathy

Another entry in the Teacup Generation Series.  This cup is "The Kathy".  It tells the story of Kathy, the poet and creative multi-crafter!  The cup is one of her favorites in her collection of cups, and came from her mom's collection.

More Teacups!

These are the latest in my series of teacups.  I have been on to other things and have forgotten about posting!  The cup on top is from the collection of my friend Delores who loves to set a beautiful table and uses her good dishes when we have dinner at her house.  The lower cup was part of my Mom's collection and now belongs to my daughter Paula.  The silver spoon is Rosepoint, and a piece from my Grandmother's silverware set.  Painting the spoon was a challenge in foreshortening!!

The Teacup Generation Series: The Ann and The Janet

These two new teacup paintings are part of the current show at the Twin Falls Center for the Arts.  I have nine teacup pieces in the Idaho Watercolor Society regional show that is on display at The Center.  These two cups are named after two friends that I have known for as long as I have lived in Idaho - 35 years - a lifetime!  The Ann cup is from Ann's mother Winnie, I believe, and I was fortunate that Ann sent me a picture since she moved before I could photograph her cups. The Janet cup came from Victoria and is a memento of her trip to Canada.  I have had a lot of fun visiting friends and taking pictures of their teacup collections and hearing the teacup stories.  The bond to the past is alive and well!   

The Sherri

This cup is now in the collection of my niece Sherri.  It had been part of my mother's collection of teacups.  Mom loved to send things home with people when they came to visit.  I think that she wanted her prized possessions to end up in loving hands and carry the family legacy forward.  Sherri visited often and wrote down and published the stories that made up Mom and Dad's lives.  She has become the family historian and keeper of our history, so this cup is in good hands!

The Erin - The Teacup Generation Series

And it is March and the time to celebrate the green!  This cup is from my mom's collection.  Not sure where she got it, but the cup is painted in a style very close to the design on a teapot that I bought in Ireland years ago.  Love the clean simple style.  Time to get the teapot out, dust it off and have some Irish Breakfast tea.

The Heather - The Teacup Generation Series

The Heather was fun to create and speaks again to the younger generation of teacup owners.  I hoped to show their colorful style and give an impression of fun and sassy.  I love color and seeing the compliments pop is satisfying.

The Karla - The Teacup Generation Series

This cup, "The Karla" denotes the modern day generation in The Teacup Generation Series.  As the tradition of social time changes so do the cups.  The granddaughters in my family have treasured teacups from their grandmothers that remind them of times past and the tea parties their grandmothers hosted.  And as much as they would love the luxury of afternoon tea, their lives are different and their generation of daily teacups reflect the change with hearty modern styling.  As I see it, this cup created with a Zentangle design, speaks to the fact that social time is short, the cup needs to be practical, go in the dishwasher, and yet it must be beautiful and reflect personal style.  This one reminded me of my niece Karla.

My own legacy china cups sit on a display shelf while I pick a hearty mug to brew lemon ginger tea to enjoy while painting in the afternoon. No worries about knocking over the cup while flinging a brush.  I just have to place it so that I don't dip my brush and color the tea!

The Vi - The Teacup Generation Series

My mother's collection of teacups includes a set of cups with matching side plates which are great for serving a small finger sandwich or a selection of cookies or cake.  I love the delicate flowers and nice feel of the handle.  My sister and I grew up having tea in real china cups and my aunt would sometimes read the tea leaves.  She was a good story teller and we loved the experience.  This set has gone unused for some time and I think it is time to get it out and invite some friends over for tea!

Legacy cups

I am finding that many of my friends have teacup collections that were handed down to them from grandmothers and mothers.  The more I work on this project, the more I hear stories about teacup collections and the fond memories that they bring forward.  This cup was in my friend Jill's collection.  It was fun going to her house and seeing all the gorgeous cups she has and photographing a few for paintings.

One Lump or Two?

This is the beginning of a series of teacups.  I am planning to do 30 tea cup paintings!  A lofty goal, but I hope that  before I am done the teacup paintings will go together in some order to display together.  The paintings are small, 5 x 5's, and easily hung together to make a teacup statement.  Some paintings will be of traditional china teacup shapes from my mom's collection and inspired by my love of floral designs, and other will be of new cup shapes and designs that echo the attention tea is now getting in the marketplace.  I am looking forward to the adventure.