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Friday, December 30, 2011

An old teapot for a New Year


Yes, it has been a while since I posted. You probably know why. Trees, cookies, relatives, hams, gifts, garlands, malls … chaos! Lately I have not had much time for blogging, or much time in the studio. I hope that things will get back to normal in the New Year.

I did find time – and a few rare moments of quiet – for a few sketches, and I am sharing one of them with you here. This is my favorite teapot. I use it nearly every day in the winter, as I am a big tea drinker (I picked up the habit during my junior year abroad at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland). It is by Furnivals, a china company in Staffordshire, England; the pattern is called “Denmark.” I bought china in this pattern for my first apartment. I can still remember that day. (Admittedly, I have a bit of an obsession with china, but that is another story for another day.)

A few years ago, I chipped the spout. (If you look closely at the drawing, you can see it.) And I cried. But I love this teapot, and I kept using it. Sure it has some crazing, a chip, and some tea stains I can’t seem to get out. But it is mine. It is part of me now. And perhaps I chose to sketch it now because it is kind of a metaphor for me, for my life. Fitting for one of the last few days of 2011. 

“And now let us welcome
the new year full of things
that have never been.”

– Ranier Maria Rilke