The Teaparty - Original Paintings

A series of six tea cups.

This series evolved a fair bit. I painted all six backgrounds in ink, first, then had the intention of painting six frogs in tea cups only. The frogs in teacups were based on images from the Instagram page, "Fantastic Froggos" (permission gratefully received) where these frogs are dressed up and posed creatively.

My frog fascination stems from my favourite children's book called "Picasso". The frog goes from green to multi-coloured when he gets in a jar of jellybeans. It was one of my favourite children's books. When I was marginally older I had a pet green tree frog that I originally named, "Picasso". Actually, I had two green tree frogs - the other one was called "Filbert" but one day I found "Filbert" in "Picasso's" mouth so I didn't have two frogs for very long. Turns out they really don't need friends... who knew!

I think they're adorable critters. The teacups were a bit incidental but I tried to find images that were interesting.

I started this series just before my mother was diagnosed with cancer, but finished it while she was in palliative care. I used this creative process to aid the grieving process. My mum loved my paintings and she knew I loved frogs. Two of the cups from the series are actually based on Turkish coffee cups from our house, sentimentally chosen. I have fond memories of my mother and grandmother jokingly reading Turkish coffee cups and telling everybody their fortune.

I also just happen to think teacup pigs are adorable. My mind was a bit distracted through this process so I just adapted as I went.

All six original mixed media paintings (ink, acrylic, soft pastel, and Posca marker) are the same size, 60 cm x 60 cm x 3.8 cm and framed in natural Tasmanian oak.