April 20, 2008
If Cups Could Speak.
Teacups are the spring blossoms of coffee drinking; they remind me of grandmothers, my best friend’s kitchen, and drinking Nescafé in Britain. About a year ago I began collecting teacups; I now have a small boxful stashed away in my closet. When I began collecting, I thought I might make candles with them. Then, as I was admiring my little collection, I suddenly remembered something I had thought about when I lived in San Francisco. Back then I used to sit outside on the patio at a small vegetarian café and drink coffee. This café had the most amazingly eclectic collection of extraordinary teacups, silverware, plates, and glasses, none of which matched. Drinking my coffee from a charmingly not-new teacup (coffee refills were free and plentiful), I imagined some unknown person at a weekend rummage sale patiently sorting through box after box of tableware, their persistence rewarded with each unexpected discovery of porcelain beauty. I remember thinking very clearly that if I ever had a café I would do the same thing with my tableware. I wasn’t going to buy fancy dishes fresh from the factory. I would give people simple, surprising and unusual moments of beauty by sharing objects seasoned with the mysteries of ordinary life.
Garden variety North American Nomad. Born in the Midwest; lived and worked on the West Coast and abroad; studied in the South. Recently spotted putting down roots in New England.
I love teacups too! I traded one for a watercolor
on the blog Paris Breakfasts, which was pretty
cool.
Oh and I learned firsthand about the new
coffe drinking demographic. My young cousins
drink decaf! I was shocked! They asked for at
on Easter.