Adon Olam ~ Teapot no. 61 (561)

Adon Olam ~ Teapot no. 61 (561) ~ Tea with the Buddha babies

...Wondrous messengers that they are... 

Thank you, Yuki, thank you, Jesse, thank you, Bodhi,

 for coming through today; it's been a while.

© Nicole Raisin Stern

Colored pencil and black fountain pen ink on paper 

****

Adon Olam: Hymn or Responsive Chant (by Reb Zalman Schacter-Shalomi)

You were cosmic LORD, YAH Malakh, before there even was a world
Then Your will all things did make, YAH Melekh we call You now.
Once when all things will cease to be YAH Yimlokh still true will be
You were, You are, eternally resplendent to infinity.
You alone, there are not two to join as friends, as lovers do.
Beginningless and without end You keep all one by plan and strength.
You are my GOD, REDEEMER, Life Protecting me in war, in strife.
My holy haven and my flag, my cup of health for what I lack.
Into Your hand I trust my breath, You breathe in me by night by day.
My body is Your tool, Your gift. With You as mine I'm not afraid.

Teapot no. 558 ~ tea with plum blossoms

© Nicole Raisin Stern

Teapot no. 58 (558) of my 6th Set of 100 Teapots

Watercolor and fountain pen ink on paper.

Teapot no. 500 and a couple others...

Teapot no. 100 ~ Butterfly & Rosemary ~ no. 500 in my 5th set of "100 Teapots"

Elephant & Mouse Tea Party ~ Teapot no. 96 (496)

Teapot no. 95 (495) ~ Jesse & Yuki Tea Party

 Teapot no. 90 (490) ~ Yuki Watches Jesse & Bodhi Jumping On The Trampoline

See the entire collection of 500 teapots

Teapots 46 & 47 ~ 5th Set of 100 Teapots

Watercolor on hanshi.



Watercolor color and black fountain pen ink on hanshi.

Tea on Dash

"Tea on Dash" is teapot painting no. 55 in Set 4 of my 100 Teapot series paintings. I like painting my tea as I drink it.

Teapots 10, 11, & 12

My little cha book is filling up.

Teapot no. 10 (210)

Watercolor and sumi brush pen in my handmade cha book.

Teapot no. 11 (211)

Paper cut outs glued into my handmade cha book.

Teapot no. 10 (210)

Green fountain pen ink (that looks aqua on the pink paper) and watercolored yellow spots.

Teapot 12 & 11 together

teapot nos. 8 & 9

Teapot no. 9 (209)
Sumi brush pen and watercolor in my handmade cha book.


Teapot no. 8 (208)
Fountain pen & colored pencil drawn inside my handmade cha book.


8 & 9 together in my handmade cha book.

View my newly started 100 Teapots Set 3.

teapot no. 6 & 7

Asagohan: breakfast. Watercolor and sumi brush pen in my handmade cha book.


I was all done with this one--I thought--when the brush flew in. Watercolor and sumi brush pen in my handmade cha book.

teapot no. 100 - team huddle

Finished my second set of 100 teapots.


Here are my helper pots, the models I used for many of my teapot drawings and paintings.

* * * * * * *

Here are the two sets:
#1: 100 teapots. Dec. 22, 2005-Oct. 2, 2006.
#2: 100 more teapots. Dec. 8, 2006-Oct. 31, 2007.

teapot no. 97 and 98

Teapot no. 98


Teapot no. 97

Tuesday

This is teapot no. 94 of my second set of 100 teapots. Only six more to go. I remember doing my first one. Each one I do still feels like the first one. Here's my written description that accompanies my second set of teapots on flickr:

[8 December, 2006]

It's official. I have embarked on my second set of 100 teapots. I had thought to do 100 architectural structures, 100 mandalas, 100 different cactuses, or maybe 100 humans.... However, my natural inclination leads me again and again to enjoy breathing and being over a cup of tea. I enjoy the preparation of tea, the color and form of the teapots, and the tea releasing its full flavor in the proper temperature water.

If you practice anything deeply, you can know everything, touch everything. A good tea host in the Japanese tea ceremony, for example, invites the guest(s) to share a moment of peace over a bowl of freshly whisked green tea. Discussion in the tearoom may include poetic or stylistic elements of the calligraphed poem hung in the tokonoma (special tearoom altar), admiration of the seasonal chabana (floral arrangement), the glaze, shape, and style of teabowl, as well as discussion of the potter, the poet/calligrapher of the poem, and other bits of history.

A tea host must know history, poetry, brush calligraphy styles, pottery, chabana, and be fluid and fluent in the art of tea. I'm not a tea host of the type I just described, though I've had the opportunity to host Japanese tea and be an invited guest in an authentic Japanese tearoom.

I enjoy simple tea. I like taking the time to prepare my tea in small teapots: Japanese green teas, Chinese and Taiwanese oolongs, green, white, and yellow teas, pu-erhs, and Indian teas. Making tea slowly, I really taste the tea, my surroundings, my companions, and my breath.

All this to say, there are mandalas in teapots. And, some teapots are little architectural wonders. So, here is my growing second set of 100 Teapots.

See the first set here.

茶茶茶 [Cha-cha-cha]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Will she do a third set of 100 teapots?!

teapots

For the past two months or so, I haven't posted any teapot drawings and paintings from my 100 more teapots set. So here are teapots 89 through 93 with 93 on top. And at the end, a couple of photos of my yixing tea set with puerh tea and a recent yummy breakfast.

This morning I enjoyed the freshness of cool autumn air (55ºF/13ºC) and sipped hot assam tea with my breakfast. I had a noodle breakfast, which consisted of soba noodles with a little soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onion; a bowl of lightly steamed kale; and a bowl of miso soup with wakame, bonito flakes, a drop of sesame oil, and a few green onions.

my art show at Bentley's

On Monday evening, I put up my art show at Bentley's House of Coffee & Tea in Tucson, Arizona. It'll run from October 15th until November 15th and consists of 36 pieces of my original watercolors, cut paper collages, acrylics, and giclée prints from my first set of 100 teapots and some from the second set of 100 teapots.

All my teapot paintings, drawings, and prints are for sale, plus my boxed blank card sets with my teapot paintings (8 cards/8 envelopes for $15 plus $3 shipping within the USA). If you are reading this and cannot make it to my show but want one of my pieces, email me at kumotohi AT yahoo.com/

If you are in Tucson, go have a look and eat some of Bentley's tasty offerings.














Also, my cyber friend, illustrator/artist, Cindy Woods has had this video talk of illustrator Maira Kalman on her blog. I am putting it on my blog, too, because I am a big fan of Maira Kalman's art and the talk took place in Monterey. Enjoy!

Post-it note art (teapots 63-71)