For most of us, the pandemic is a period we probably would not want to remember — the sudden pause in daily life, the uncertainty of tomorrow, while we were still reeling from the announcement to shut the outside world, with some relief every now and then.
But for the then-ninth grader Nivedha Senthilkumar, the summer of 2020 was a “gift”. During the lockdown, Nivedha brought together two of her most cherished comforts, tea and art, to blend warmth with creativity. “I have been creating art since my KG. And started consuming tea early in life. My mother found out that I become cranky when I do not have tea or fail to draw on any given day. Hence, I combined tea and sketching, which lifts my mood instantly and instills a sense of completeness in me,” shares the 19-year-old.
Nivedha always wanted to create something — something unique and meaningful. So, the artist who earlier created pencil portraits, miniature paintings, doodles, coloured pencil portraits, digital artworks, and live art, decided to break the monotony. “This (tea) art is my way of paying a tribute to all tea lovers across the world and also the farmers who grow this plantation crop,” she says.
Leaves to lives
How does tea become paint on a canvas full of expressions? The process is personally developed and precise. The Tindivanam-based artist buys tea powder from stores and boils it in water. “I then preserve the water for two weeks, so that the liquid turns into the consistency of a paint,” she mentions, adding that there is a high chance that fungi will layer the water, if not stored properly.
As a result, Nivedha paints portraits with tea. “I usually take orders two weeks in advance, so that I have enough time to convert tea to paint and also to make sure that the prepared water does not go to waste,” she says. Yet, customers have cancelled their orders at the last minute or “refused” to pay the quoted amount, unwilling to look at the efforts behind the painting.
“We are living in the world of AI. The competition is already too high. But I also believe that without reference materials, the AI cannot generate any content. But this is a difficult time to thrive. And with a unique process like mine — where I am still learning the versatility of tea as a paint — individuals should look at the efforts I put in. Tea powder costs less, the preservation takes a stipulated time, but what about the time and energy I spend in bringing the artwork to life?,” she rues.
A new path
Tea, as a medium of painting, is unexplored. But Nivedha is on the way to crack it. She says, “Tea painting is similar to watercolour, but its wonders are still to be recorded. The paintings I did two years ago are becoming darker in shade now. So, I am hoping that this way of art has longevity,” mentions the self-taught artist.
To take this “unique method of painting” to the world, Nivedha will be conducting workshops in the coming days. “When I started with tea painting, I did not come across any samples on the Internet. We have references for coffee painting and watercolours from fruit and vegetable extracts on the web. But tea is not yet in common practice, and I want to change that,” she says.
Lacking resources, Nivedha experimented with her own knowledge about colours and canvases, from which was born the tea art. She is also testing other means to use tea leaves and include them on her canvases. “I am still learning and hopefully in the future I will make more such innovative painting methods,” she concludes.
For more details, visit nivedha_tea_artist on Instagram