All Hail the Teabag!

Illustration: John Tenniel 

After the melodrama of the alarm clock first thing in the morning, I am someone who prefers the more gentle approach of a cup of tea instead of the instant ‘bang on the head,’ provided by a cup of coffee. Reaching for the kettle and the teabags is a daily ritual and makes juggling a tin of cat food (for the screeching cat), and the contents of the fridge for the wherewithal for my son’s packed lunch, a little more bearable with half opened eyes.

It seems that teabags have been around since 1904, when Thomas Sullivan a tea and coffee merchant from New York, decided to send his customers samples of tea in hand-sewn silk muslin bags. This was instead of sending the somewhat bulky and expensive to send tins, that were normally used by merchants of the time. It is said that his customers being totally confused by the new packaging threw the tea in hot water, bag and all. This revolutionized making a cuppa and as a result the ‘teabag’ was born. Being an instant hit this meant that after this Thomas Sullivan’s customers wouldn’t settle for anything else, so he continued to ship tea in his new creation the ‘teabag’.

What could be better? A gloriously quick solution, coupled with a simple design filled with your favourite brand or flavour on the end of a piece of string! Also, adieu to the sewage found at the bottom of a teapot.

But sad to say generic paper teabags, whether they are oblong, round or square do not contain the best grade of tea possible. Due to the limitations of size, teabags have for years contained only the inferior dust remnants found at the bottom of the tea barrels. So, the brown beverage in your cup although drinkable, is not the best quality that can be brewed from a tea leaf. The customer is definitely not getting the ‘full flavour’, as promised by some bright spark in the marketing department of many a brand.

Enter the pyramid teabag…yes, the Egyptians were onto a good design. Because of its shape, whole leaf and more exotic mixes of tea can be used. Made of woven synthetic muslin the process of infusion is improved resulting in tea with a superior flavour all the while still fitting perfectly in a cup, and still not creating any problems when it comes to packaging. These teabags have been around since the 1980’s originating in Japan and its more modern cousins are even available in a biodegradable jacket. Esoterically these charming teabags are a pleasure to the eye with the leaves and blooms on show, and may finally be able to unite the divide between the teabag in a cup drinker and those who prefer loose tea in a teapot. Both can enjoy a decent cup of tea.

Sources: 

Tea Muse

Tea & Coffee

First published in the Connections magazine #19 Spring 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

The Colourful World of Leona Leppers - Artist Interview

Hurtling through the Dutch countryside on a particularly grey Monday morning and travelling in a north-easterly direction away from Groningen, Kim and I headed for the little village of Ee (pronounced ae) to interview our next artist, Leona Leppers.

Both not having an awfully good sense of direction, even with the electronic route finder chatting merrily away on the dash board to itself, we wondered if this time we hadn’t gone a little far in pursuit of an article. But perseverance pays off and as we rounded the corner we were pleasantly surprised when we saw the house. A jewel on the landscape, this little house could almost come out of a fairy tale book with its garden filled with colourful objects, candles, mosaic slabs and streamers fluttering in the wind.

Leona opened the door with a welcoming smile, clothed and be-jewelled from head to toe in her amazing Technicolor creations and invited us in for coffee. Inside, the house comprises of two main rooms with an adjoining kitchen and Leona’s work can be seen from floor to ceiling in every nook and cranny. Just when you think you have seen it all, you discover another creation.

Creative from an early age and having previously worked as a drama therapist the dramatic change in her life came when her contract wasn’t renewed and she decided to look for something else. She was asked to take part in a fashion show entitled ‘Regal & Kitsch’ where for the finale she created a queen’s costume using the materials, which have now become her trademark style. Later she continued by making bags on request, which in turn has led to soft jewellery, interior objects and workshops for women interested in learning how to make her colourful designs.

The colours she uses are bright and the materials sumptuous, fluffy and velvety making you want to touch them and pick them up. Her designs are decorated with beads, unusual bits and bobs, shells, felt, in fact anything she can lay her hands on to decorate. All this she finds at markets and in curiosa shops, saying she has a nose for finding what she wants. This makes her work always refreshingly original. Influences in her designs come from music, and from travel books on India and Africa as well as religious icons taken from Christianity and Buddhism.

Leona doesn't live in the house anymore; she lives a stone's throw away over a little bridge in a larger house. There just isn’t enough room for her family any more, comprising of two sons (aged 9 and 12) and her partner. The little house is used as a gallery and studio for her work. She also has the intention of starting up a Bed & Breakfast in it for those wishing to escape the pressures of city life.

The house is also very symbolic of her life and personal growth over the years. Having first found the house when it was more or less condemned, with a mud floor, straw walls and no electricity or running water, Leona has breathed life into it and lovingly restored it to its present state. She has made it hers and filled it with a riot of colour and life, it is a haven where she can be herself without the need to explain herself in any way.

Find out more about Leona’s colourful work on her website at: Leona Design

First published in the Connections magazine #19 Spring 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

The Language of Flowers

The language and the giving of flowers (known as florigraphy) can be said to have started as far back as the 1700's by the Persians, as discovered by Charles II of Sweden, who then introduced the practice to Europe. But it was the Victorians (during the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901), who developed this into a whole new language and their practices are best known today, because much of it has been well documented in books and journals of the time.

In their very protocol dominated society, the Victorians often replaced words with symbols and gestures, and flowers became an integral part of being able to express one’s thoughts and feelings to loved ones. The species, colours, number and grouping of the flowers were of great importance and as there weren’t as many flower species as there are today, each flower had a specific meaning. A particular favourite was the red rose, symbolizing passion and love, and meaning “Be mine’, whereas primroses stated, “I can’t live without you,” purple hyacinths, “Please forgive me,” and pink carnations, “I’ll never forget you.”

For roses there is a particular coding, but this can also be applied to other flowers as well. Red roses mean romantic love, purple signify that the giver had fallen in love with the recipient at first sight, coral and orange means desire, yellow is joy and friendship, pink roses express gratitude and appreciation, light pink roses show feelings of admiration and sympathy, peach can either signify either sympathy or gratitude and white roses show reverence and humility.

The messaging didn't shop there, how the flowers were worn or presented was also highly charged with meaning. If the flowers were presented upright it was positive, upside down and you were less fortunate. Also, how a ribbon was tied around the flowers was of importance; it referred to the giver if tied to the left and the recipient if tied to the right. A question could be answered depending on which hand the bearer had presented the flowers with. If it was the right hand the answer was "yes" and the left hand "no". Should you have the misfortune to receive a bunch of dead flowers, then not only did you now have nothing for your vase, your love had been totally rejected.

In order to attract positive chi in Feng Shui, flowers and their placement within the home play an important part. Dried flowers should be avoided at all costs as they do not ensure a good energy flow. Sunflowers bring stability and endurance, cyclamen bring passion and romance, the spider plant encouraged calmness, whereas African violets attract fame, or recognition. For calm regions of the house such as bedrooms, pinks are best for harmony, for busy areas, balance-inducing lilies and orchids are suggested.

These days, giving a bunch of flowers is more about the sentiment behind the gift than its actual meaning. We seem to have all but lost (with a couple of exceptions) the Victorians’ language of flowers. So go on, next time you give a bouquet, really say it with flowers.

Sources:
Blooms for Flowers     

Easy Flowers     

Flower Stories

First published in the Connections magazine #19 Spring 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

Jon Boetes – Sculpting for Peace

The seed of inspiration for this project came due to a comment from his daughter, Jody Lee: ‘Will I ever find peace in this life?’ during her long and arduous recuperation after being in a coma for six years, because of a bicycle accident. This was then enforced, when, after John attended a charity concert in which Barbara Streisand, before singing her song ‘Somewhere,’ dedicated it to, ‘memories of all those good men whose lives have senselessly and violently been snuffed out like a candle.’

Before each sculpture can be started John makes a prototype in cement, an army of fifteen Indian workers, skilled carvers in black granite, then copies this. A difficult material to work with, but the inhabitants of Mahabalipuram are expert in working with this notoriously hard stone, unique to the region of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.

Where the peace park will be situated in the world John has not quite decided yet, but seeing as each sculpture can take anywhere from up to a year or more to realize from start to finish and weighs between 1.5 to 2 tons, the project is quite a lengthy one.

A completed bust of Gandhi (which took five months to make) will shortly be shipped to Groningen sometime in the spring of this year, with the idea of taking pride of place on the Gandhiplein, near the Hoornse Meer (Hoornse Lake).

John divides his year between his house in Groningen and his ongoing project in Tamil Nadu in India.

First published in the Connections magazine #19 Spring 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

Connections Magazine - Winter #18 2008

Cover for the Connections Winter issue 2008

First published in the Connections magazine #18 Winter 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

The Wonderful World of Chocolate

Bad day at the office, life’s a peach, or just because you feel like it, just reach for chocolate and your world takes on a new chocolaty dimension. OK maybe I’m a bit too over enthusiastic, but one thing is sure this stuff really hits the spot! In this issue chocolate prevails due to Valentine’s Day, Leap Year and of course Easter.

Women seem to be the main lovers of this heavenly stuff, but I have met on occasion the odd man who won’t share his bar for love or money or those who will fight you for the last M&M (the latter, I might add being under the age of 10, and is therefore excused). I won’t make the presumption and say that I don’t think that there is anyone who doesn’t like chocolate but, I have yet to meet someone who has never tasted chocolate - please correct me if I am wrong.

Whether you are a guzzler, a comfort eater (on those long dark nights), or a refined one piece after dinner eater there are still differing opinions as to what is considered ‘real’, chocolate. Dark chocolate is of course, in its purity, the real McCoy, but milk chocolate is a serious contender, as it tends to melt more slowly and lasts longer in the mouth of the chocolate lover. White chocolate, however, due to its minimal cocoa levels is considered an impostor, but does have its following.

Used as early as the sixth century BC by the Mayas the word chocolate comes from their word Xocoatl, which means ‘bitter water’. A symbol of life and fertility its image was to be found in many of their temples and palaces and was referred to as ‘food of the Gods’. The Aztecs believed that their god Quetzalcoatl brought them the cocoa tree, which he in turn had stolen from paradise. Both the Mayas and the Aztecs used Cocoa as the basis for a thick, cold, unsweetened drink called Xocoatl often flavoured with spices, hot chillies and corn meal. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma drank thick chocolate dyed red. Owing to the fact that the drink was thought to give the drinker wisdom and power as well as being nourishing and having an aphrodisiac quality. It was served in golden goblets that were thrown away after only one use.

Although it was Columbus who brought back the first beans to Spain there was little interest taken in them until Hernando Cortez re-introduced them in 1528 and suggested mixing the bitter drink made from them with sugar. This resulted in a mix with sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon. It became the drink of the Spanish nobility and remained a secret from the rest of the world for almost 100 years!

The court of seventeenth century France embraced chocolate to the full mainly because of its aphrodisiac qualities. It is said that the Marquis de Sade, often used it to disguise poisons whereas Casanova was reputed for using chocolate with champagne to seduce the ladies.

After this there was no stopping chocolate becoming popular the world over. In 1830, the drink was made into a confection, in the form of a solid product by JS Fry and Sons (a British chocolate maker). Industrialization in the manufacturing process of chocolate led to increased production, and that coupled with more cocoa plantations, made chocolate just for the elite a thing of the past.

Even as far as ones health it has been found to have some very positive qualities. A pure piece of chocolate (of roughly 10 grams), eaten daily can reduce the chance of heart and blood vessel problems by 50%. The presence of bioflavonoids protects against free radicals, as well as the amino acid Tryptophan, which stimulates the mood enhancing serotonin, resulting it the euphoric feeling that is felt whilst eating chocolate. It is also said to be good for the body and figure and is found in many of today’s beauty products. The effect here is stimulatory and drains water retention, breaks down fat and strengthens the skin.

These days chocolate is everywhere in one form or another just about everywhere; in books, shops, at tastings, societies, cocktails, on postage stamps and even featured in the designs at Parisian fashion shows.

One thing is sure; if you introduce a little chocolate into your life the world becomes a happier place.

Sources: Chocolate 

First published in the Connections magazine #18 Winter 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

Leap Year

What do you get when you cross a kangaroo with a calendar? 
… A leap year!

But seriously, for those of you planning on taking advantage of this year’s leap year, and of course this is directed at you ladies, this is your once in every four years chance to pop the all important question. Of course you should make sure that your ‘man to be’, has given you with ample amounts of chocolate on Valentines Day to get you in the mood. Sorry chaps you do still have a look in with the remaining 365 days this year.

So, just how did a leap year become part of our calendar and the emancipated bending of the female knee?

A leap year came about astronomically because seasons and astronomical events do not repeat a set number of days each year, so if our calendar remained the same each year, eventually it wouldn’t correspond to the seasons or seasonal events at all any more. The Gregorian calendar includes an extra day once every four years, in February, which keeps the matter in check.

Historically in fifth century Ireland women were allowed to make marriage proposals. If the man in question refused he was then fined and compensation could range from a kiss, to £1.00 to paying for a silk dress. Because men found this to be a rather unfair system women were only allowed to propose in leap years.

According to English law, 29 February as a day was considered to have no legal status, existing purely to fix a problem in the calendar. Therefore any prevailing custom shouldn’t either that only allowed men propose marriage.

These days there is a Greek superstition that getting married on a leap year is bad luck so generally couples will avoid planning their weddings on a leap year.

So, if the worst-case scenario becomes a reality and your loved one is not ‘ready’, for the plunge there’s always the possibility of trying again in another four year’s. If this is not a very consolatory thought, just remember that Easter is around the corner. Failing that there are some rather fun chocolate fondue fountains on the market these days, to while away the time.

Artwork Wonder Woman: Terry Dodson

Source: Wikipedia

First published in the Connections magazine #18 Winter 2008

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs