Sweet Tea Song Bird - 01

A collection for tea time - song birds and tea in the garden.

"The tea cup"

This is part of a collection of illustrations revolving around songbirds and tea. The colors are chosen from my childhood memories of drinking sweet tea with relatives, with earthy and comforting hues of milk tea, reed furniture, cream walls and a dark blue night sky.

Each illustration consists of a songbird, in a contemplative pose, with part of an earthenware tea set, surrounded by natural elements. They are illustrations that remind us of the healing properties of nature, something so simple as a cup of tea provides warmth, replenishment and comfort. All of earth's creatures benefit from the changing seasons, from growth to decay and to renewal. I hope viewers can connect to nature through these works, and feel the healing and medicinal offerings of our natural world.

I created this artwork as a kind of collage, using gouache on watercolor paper to create the natural elements such as the floral silhouette background, the petals and butterfly. I then digitally painted the teacup, bird and linear botanical hanging fruit. I like to blend hand painted and digitally painted elements to create artworks with meaning and relevance to our modern lives.