It's Nibblefest Art Contest Week...!
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| 'The Mad Tea', acrylic on found, 9x6 wood plaque |
August's theme is 'TEA TIME'.
So what's the first thing that comes to mind when YOU think of tea....?
Yeah, me too. But of course, the famous Tea Party scene of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' is going to pop up, front and center. Which it did. And yet, I was initially a little resistant to the concept, only because, as much as I adore Alice (this being my third in a series of "Alice in Wonderland" tribute paintings), it felt at first maybe a little too....What? Obvious, perhaps? But then another idea came to mind....
I have long admired the work of American impressionist, Mary Cassatt, with one painting of hers in particular standing out for me. Known as "The Tea", it captures a sweet little 'slice of life' scene featuring two young Victorian-era women enjoying the quaint custom of a proper afternoon tea. Particularly striking is the pose of one of the women. With her straight, 'lady-like' posture, she's captured in the middle of taking a dainty sip of her drink, pinky raised, with the teacup obscuring fully half of her face. Only her eyes are visible, peeking brightly over the rim of the cup....:
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| My Inspiration: "The Tea' (1879), painted by the American Impressionist, Mary Cassatt |
I've always loved this Cassatt painting....and so, I decided to do a fun, little 'mash-up' of the two, while injecting plenty of my own personal style, resulting in this wee, loving tribute to them both....:
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| "The Mad Tea": Side View showing the painted, beveled edges.... |
Note that this is actually my third piece in an "Alice in Wonderland" series of pieces.
A couple of years ago, I created a Nibblefest entry for the theme of 'Cats', featuring my own version of the Cheshire Cat...:
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| 'The Cheshire Cat", painted upon a found wooden, cat-shaped plaque |
I referred to 'Alice' again a number of months ago, for the Nibblefest theme of 'Books' ....:
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| "Logical Nonsense", my entry for the Nibblefest theme, "Books" |
And now we have what I've titled, "The Mad Tea"...:
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| 'The Mad Tea' |
The following is my auction description for 'The Mad Tea" (*MINUS* the glaring error I made writing it (blushing), which I am now unfortunately unable to edit! Check out and read my auction to see if you can figure out my mistake....):
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~"The Mad Tea"~
My entry for this month's
Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC), the
theme for August being 'TEA TIME',
features a fancifully painted scene from the timeless classic tale, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (with a nod and apologies to the lovely and talented American impressionist painter, Mary Cassatt...!).
Folks
familiar with my creative style know how I love to mix things up a bit
in my artwork, all while frequently painting the first concepts that
come to my mind when reflecting upon a given theme. Often this results
in fun and interesting "mash-ups", and this month was no exception.
Reflecting upon the theme 'Tea Time' made me think of two classic,
historic references -- one literary, and one artistic. Naturally, the
tea party of Alice in Wonderland fame popped into my head (but of
course)..., but then so did a sweet, 1879 painting by the American
impressionist artist, Mary Cassatt, known as, 'The Tea' (as seen
here in my detail photos). For fun I decided to combine these two
entities (all while taking my usual liberties), with this as my result.
Here's hoping you enjoy my entry, "The Mad Tea", this month as much as I
did creating it...!
'Alice in Wonderland' meets Mary Cassatt! Painted upon a 9 x 6 found, wooden plaque, this original, "The Mad Tea", is painted on all its beveled sides, signed, and ready to hang (Note: This is for a 5-day auction).....
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