This piece depicts my morning routine of drinking green tea, but also symbolizes the marriage of an eastern culture with a western one. While the teapot and the whisk are things my parents brought from Asia, the Starbucks and Teavana, both symbols of not only Western culture but capitalism, are things that I have been steeped in: I am the product of both. My morning routine symbolizes this: whether I buy my tea pre-made or I brew it myself, it is still a vital part of my routine that I am accustomed to that my parents have passed onto me and I have reinterpreted to suit who I am.
This watercolor still life was painted by glazing: layering primary colors onto the paper, rather than mixing colors on a palette. The result was a more vibrant finish: due to the translucent nature of watercolors, layering enables light to pass through all the layers of pigment and reflect off the white of the paper.
