Many of my paintings are of mugs, or tea cups.
For many people, family gatherings are about food. I was shocked to learn this, when I grew up. My family's relationship with food was bizarre and certainly not social; the subject for another sort of blog, I suppose. From the time I was a little kid, I remember the adults sitting around the kitchen table, or gathered around a television, talking, laughing and drinking coffee. If you knocked on the screen door of my mother's house, or even my grandmother's house, you were offered coffee. The implied invitation was for conversation.
I associate drinking hot drinks with the comfort of home. When I left home for the first time, I wrote a poem about associating coffee with my Mom, which I sent home, and she framed and put up on the wall of her kitchen, so that anyone coming in for a sit, and a cup, would see the poem.
I was really uncomfortable to find, when I grew up, that people expected things other than coffee and conversation when they came over. They expected snacks, or other drinks. Some people didn't actually drink coffee. I have been to many homes that have gigantic pictures of wine and wine glasses, or beer adverts. Some people are happy to have a cup of coffee, but they need creamer, or sugar and milk, and a spoon, and then maybe a napkin to put it on. Bewildering. Fussy.
I have, over time, found that I like Tea People, on occasion. These are the people who seem rather formal at first, but are warm and like telling stories, too. Tea People seem a little more delicate, and I watch myself around them, but they're sweet.
So, if you see a painting of mine, with mugs or cups in it, it usually has something to do with social relationships. I'm generally thinking about how people relate to one another. They are emotionally charged objects for me. Completely ordinary and utilitarian, but I can honestly say that there isn't a single time when something very huge and important has happened to me, when I didn't find myself, at some point, staring into a mug of coffee.
I was really uncomfortable to find, when I grew up, that people expected things other than coffee and conversation when they came over. They expected snacks, or other drinks. Some people didn't actually drink coffee. I have been to many homes that have gigantic pictures of wine and wine glasses, or beer adverts. Some people are happy to have a cup of coffee, but they need creamer, or sugar and milk, and a spoon, and then maybe a napkin to put it on. Bewildering. Fussy.
I have, over time, found that I like Tea People, on occasion. These are the people who seem rather formal at first, but are warm and like telling stories, too. Tea People seem a little more delicate, and I watch myself around them, but they're sweet. For me, the most comfortable social situation is pouring some coffee, and settling into the couch, or sitting at the kitchen table and talking or playing games for hours and hours. I know there are others like me out there, or Starbucks would not be so popular with their familiar lighting, and their leather couches, and little tables with inlaid chess boards.
So, if you see a painting of mine, with mugs or cups in it, it usually has something to do with social relationships. I'm generally thinking about how people relate to one another. They are emotionally charged objects for me. Completely ordinary and utilitarian, but I can honestly say that there isn't a single time when something very huge and important has happened to me, when I didn't find myself, at some point, staring into a mug of coffee.
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