Thinking About Tea

 I love drinking tea, it's often the first drink of the day and also the last with several refreshing cups in between.  I first drank tea when I started secondary  school the year I turned 12.  It was the perfect warming and refreshing after school drink back in the day when I had a long bus journey that took almost an hour. My mother would give me a sweet hot cup in a little arcopal white mug which had a beautiful red rose design on it. 

My mother would also make quite strong sweet  little cups of teas for my father which she made by boiling the tea with spices like cinnamon and cardamom creating the rich heady scent of chai. It was not until I was doing my own tea shopping that I realised just how many wonderful varieties of teas are available. I would look longingly at the fancy tea packages and want to try them all but would never buy them unable to justify paying so much for a packet of teas, what if I didn't like them. 

That feeling of wanting to taste teas from everywhere has always stayed with me and now though many brands and flavours are readily available, I still want to taste them all without buying a box unless I am sure I would like the flavour for example if it was mint tea, breakfast tea or chai.  I also love to receive tea as gifts.  I got thinking, what if I create the product that I'd like to receive. A tea tasting selection full of exciting, fancy, interesting teas, not too many but just a few to make it a special treat. It should be packaged so that it fits through the letter box so that there is no missing the postal delivery.  

This led me to creating an Etsy shop I've called Thinking Of Tea. 
The concept of Thinking About Tea is a letterbox gift that you can treat yourself or a loved one to. It will have 6 tea bags and a handmade paper coaster (unique hand decorated) , wrapped in tissue. I'll theme the teas so they are perfect for particular flavour profiles, occasions or celebrations. 

I wanted to start the business with minimal cost, focussing the expense on the product. I decided that a quick sketch would be more suitable than a long thought out design for the logo of my tea taster shop.
I like the design that was created on an ipad, it has an informality to it, and I think will work for attracting all ages of tea lovers and potential fans. 

I came up with this particular 'Thinking Of Tea' name because I had literally spent all morning thinking about tea and all the different tea blends I wanted to try.  I thought about how if I wanted to feel relaxed I'd have a cup of chamomile, after dinner I'd enjoy a fresh minty cup, how I'd buy an expensive tea packet as a gift. It felt very exciting to plan the type of collections I would be offering to my customers. 
 

Logo for 'Thinking of Tea' 

I will continue writing about te and my new venture with my new blog 'Thinking about Tea'

My art work : 'Do Not Assume"

It as been a few weeks since I last blogged, but everyone will be aware that with the build up of the situation with Covid-19, there has been other things to focus on.

It's also due to the viral pandemic that the Wallace Collection has had to close and therefore the Friday late curated by Momtaz Begum Hossain and all the activities she had organised were now unfortunately not going ahead. This included the art trail of art by South Asian artists including myself.

Forgotten Masters Wallace Collection

Here is the finished piece I created especially for this exhibition.
It is called Do Not Assume and is based on the DNA molecule

DNA is a biological molecule that is the blueprint of all the genetic material that you inherited from your parents, it makes you who you are. Your DNA is unique to you and directs the way you look, with your natural  body shape, hair and eye colour. You have inherited a lot of your characteristics but there is evidence that the information you have inherited is only half the story, of who you become,  how you behave and think as a person because that is largely affected by what you’ve learnt, your environment, the people you mix with, particularly the thoughts you think.

My new artwork especially for this exhibition gets you to think about your DNA differently. My design is based on switching the actual chemical bases for empowering words. In an actual DNA molecule Adenine would bond with Thymine but in my DNA , the Adenine becomes “Attitude” and Thymine becomes “Thoughts” etc , the idea is the molecule DNA stands for “Do Not Assume” anything, you have the power to transform your life, with the right thinking and planning you can achieve your dreams and improve every part of your life.

here is my design : Do Not Assume by Ema Hossain , March 2020

Fruit Paintings

Here are some of my food watercolour painting postcards.

tomatoes

kiwi fruit

pomegranate and banana postcards

lychees 

My winning design for a child's duvet cover

This photo is the copyright of Fou Furnishings and shows my winning design in 2010 for a children's duvet design competition.

This design called "Love to Learn" was inspired by reading, learning and nature so I included letters, numbers, animals and shapes.

Fou Furnishings is a Soil Association certified company specialising in organic bedding. In 2009 during the Soil Association, Organic Fortnight week they held a competition to design a children's duvet and it coincided with their launch of new organic collections for babies and children.  My design was one of two winners.

The company made up my design as a limited edition duvet in 330 thread count organic cotton which means it feels beautifully soft and smooth and it was sold  for £65.
I'm very proud of this design and one of my children still has her duvet on her bed.

Roses

Roses are one of my favourite flowers so it's no surprise I enjoy painting them. Below are examples of some of my mini paintings inspired by roses.

Watercolour 

mixed media 

Acrylic- roses 

watercolour 

Acrylic 

watercolour 

mixed media

this is one of my favourite ACEO sized artworks 

mixed media 

mixed media 

Greeting card, watercolour 

I  will be painting more artwork with roses in the future both on mini canvas and ACEO and will be listing them for sale on my Folksy shop, which I am very excited to be re- opening next month! 

fashion inspired cards and brooches

Last week was London fashion week 2020 and I've been inspired to look through some of the cards and brooches I designed and made using Liberty print fabrics.

I'm planning some more gorgeous little fabric dress cards this year !

Paper roses for Valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day

My daughter asked me to show her how to make paper roses. She wanted to make four red roses to take to school for her friends. The came out beautifully. We made them look extra special by putting them in piping bags and used gold ribbon. So pretty and professional looking. I'm sure her school friends will be delighted with them.

I've previously made little paper rose magnets and rings made with beautiful floral Italian Carte Varese paper, like these below.

This little paper rose ring was made with a blue spotty design paper