The red bush project

With a nod to textile artists Leanne Rogerson, Debbie Oshrat and Rachael Singleton, I started experimenting with tea bags in the making of art. What I didn’t realise from the outset was that tea bags are like paper; a little hard to work with, and once you poke a hole in it, the hole remains. If you make a stitch just slightly in the wrong place, it is not an option to just make a new one next to it, as you just end up with one big hole. Using a very thin needle minimises the damage and makes the process somewhat easier, but it still remains fiddly.

84 tea bag cushions (2022)

My mum and rooibos (red bush) tea are synonymous. As far back as I can remember, rooibos tea has been her drink of choice. She doesn’t drink alcohol and doesn’t like fizzy drinks. In fact, she doesn’t particularly care for anything other than rooibos tea. This herbal tea is just about the only thing that passes her lips.

In honour of my mum, I wanted to create something that involves tea bags. For this particular project, I decided to use the South African brand. We do get some SA products in New Zealand (perhaps because there are so many South Africans here), and this particular brand is a bit stronger than the Kiwi version which means you can make more cups of tea on a single bag. The South African brand also uses a square bag which works perfectly as little cushions.

I stuck to the red/pinkish colours and embroidered each with a unique motive. I also embroidered a saying my mum often used – still uses – which means there will be hell to pay. When “jy kak ‘n perd” (you will shit a horse) was uttered, we knew that we were in a lot of trouble. Sometimes she would go on to add “en dan kan jy op hom ry” (and then you can ride on it), which I never really understood the meaning of. Today we can all laugh about it, poke fun at her, but it was very serious business back when we were children in the house.

To celebrate her 84 years with us (and still going strong), I am making 84 little rooibos tea cushions. Every year I will add another one on her birthday.

It is a work in progress and these are just some of the finished cushions so far.

Womb to tomb

I am working towards a big artwork that will comprise a whole lot of red bush tea bags. So far I have only used the tea bags from the tea we have been drinking the past couple of months. They have to dry out first and cutting them open reduces their strength. Tea bags are fragile and fiddly to work with, and it is going to be a long process to construct this piece.

It is early days on this project yet, but I am quite excited to see how it develops.