Painting teabags…from cup to canvas ♥

Art, it is all in the eye of the beholder so I’m told. And this form of art is definitely something you either appreciate or don’t. I find the use of a material that we would normally discard quite refreshing and the beauty that can come from such an item is incredible. Artist Ruby Silvious has opened my eyes to a whole new art form. She started to collect her used tea bags each day to transform them into majestic art pieces. Each teabag is slightly different and with the staining from the tea it has a unique quality right from the beginning of the process. In 2015 Ruby collated a series called 363 Days of Tea and has gone on from there to create several more series as well as Kimonos put together all with painted tea bags. Have a look at her website, she is extremely talented and depicts a variety of visual delights such as nature, landscapes, portraits and architecture. https://www.rubysilvious.com/

I found this quick YouTube clip to show just how beautiful this art is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J8lrXhW00I

Alka Mathur is another artist who uses teabags as part of her mixed media designs. Alka says her art is inspired by nature. She uses the actual teabag to stain parts of her art and has also taken to using the dried teabags as a sort of day to day diary; which has been integrated into her larger works as well as being displayed just as the entries. Have a look at this quick YouTube clip to see how it looks – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sipfmoOcbo

Alka Mathur Teabag Diary ♥

Stamping teabags is another way of creating art pieces using used teabags. Firstly have a cup of tea (personally my favourite part of the process), dry out your teabag(s) for a few days, cut along an edge to remove the tea leaves, using pigment based ink (so it won’t run if you paint over it) stamp a design onto the teabag surface. Go on to add to a mixed media piece of art, scrap-booking,make a card or create something completely unique. I would love to see any of your creations ♥

41 thoughts on “Painting teabags…from cup to canvas ♥

  1. For a textile graduate and tea fanatic this is the dream! I love the use of materials and art created. I’ve used tea to stain paper and fabric before but never considered using the actual bag. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I love to paint on tea bags! I used to do it years ago and I want to create again a new tea bag watercolor paintings series! Right now I am actually collecting and drying my tea bags! 😉

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      1. Thank you of course I will share! When I will create the new series I will post my tea bag paintings when ever I paint one and I will let you know so that you can follow it!

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  3. Wow! Those are so beautiful! I’ve never heard of this before. One of my favorite things to do, when I’m feeling artistic, is paint scenes on large rocks. We live in the woods, so they are easy to come by!

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    1. Oh beautiful I have some gorgeous painted rocks that a friend of mine did for me, so nice seeing them popped in the garden 🌺

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  4. This is one of the prettiest crafts I’ve ever seen done. You have so much talent and to have even thought about doing this amazes me. I don’t have a skill for painting, but you’ve inspired me to perhaps try with a simple drawing, maybe a sunflower or something. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful idea!!!

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  5. This is very interesting and I can see and imagine that teabags and the stains they create can lend to some awesome designs and added to that some creativity, then all I can say would be WOW

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