Tempest In A Tea Cup

 Tempest in a Tea Cup watercolor, gouache and Ink  N.Y. Meera Rao 

A few years ago when a friend was visiting me,  I was removing a metal pin from tea bag after making my tea to put into compost. She asked ‘Did you know the tea bags are not compostable ?’  Since then I have been trying to use up tea bags I still had and buy loose tea. I have also been saving the bags and hoping to use it for some kind of eco art but never could figure out. As my stash grew bigger in a box labeled ‘tea bags for painting?’ I had to do something.  Yesterday the idea came to me to combine Hokusai’s waves coming out a Japanese teacup and title it  ‘Tempest in a tea cup’. The teabag seemed to be just right size canvas to illustrate the concept :)  So this is one of those long incubation ideas joining  my NYC metrocard art, mint tin altars, altered throwaway print photo art, upcycled Smithsonian Engagement Calendars, etc !