Cup of Tea
Cup of Tea ~ Mixed Media ~ 11 x 14 Canvas Panel
Years ago I read a good entitled “The Book of Tea” by Okakura Kakuzo. The author lived from 1862 – 1913 in Tokoyo, Japan. He was quite philosophical and passionate about the arts, traveling extensively to teach and promote his convictions. He was also dedicated to bringing the Eastern and Western worlds closer. He found a way to express his ideas through his book published in 1956.
From the forward: The very wars which Okakura feared and detested have contributed in a horrible bloody way to a remarkable realization that East and West are not so far apart, after all. He believed that “humanity could meet in a teacup”.
“Teaism” was a term coined in 15th century Japan founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. Teasim represents so much of our Art of Life. When we consider how small after all, the cup of human enjoyment is, how soon overflowed with tears, and how easily drained to the dregs in our quenchless thirst for infinity, we shall not blame ourselves for making so much of the teacup.
For Teaism is the art of concealing beauty that you may discover it, of suggesting what you dare not reveal. It is the noble secret of laughing at yourself, calmly yet thoroughly, and is thus humor itself, – the smile of philosophy. There is a subtle charm in the taste of tea which makes it irresistible and capable of idealization. It has not the arrogance of wine, the self-consciousness of coffee, nor the simpering innocence of cocoa.”
Lotung, a Tang poet, wrote: “The first cup moistens my lips and throat, the second cup breaks my loneliness, the third cup searches my barren entrail but to find therein some five thousand volumes of odd ideographs. The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration, – all the wrong of life passes away through my pores. At the fifth cup I am purified; the sixth cup calls me to the realms of immortals. The seventh cup – ah, but I could take no more! I only feel the breath of cool wind that rises in my sleeves.
I drink multiple cups of tea every day….Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall (all you’ve got to do is call….who knows that song? :), I suppose I go about the day with a constant wind rising in my sleeves! There is something to the feeling of calm with each sip, probably why I imbibe with abandon.
The color violet, as a divine ray, represents mercy, compassion, forgiveness, justice, freedom, and infinite connection to the Source of Life. Gold, as a divine ray, represents peace, prosperity and the supply of all good things. Amid all that purple is our honorable cup of tea.
If you’re interested in learning more about the 12 Rays and their divine qualities you can visit this page: https://www.lauriemorseart.com/about the link is in second paragraph. I start every artwork with every divine color on a canvas or panel which mostly gets covered by the time it’s final, but the foundation is all these wonderful qualities which we all have access to inside every cell. We only need activate it. Looking at art can do that!
Your homework: grab a cup of tea and look at some pleasing art!
In Creative Love and Wholeness,
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