Today’s project helps me fulfill something on my creative to do list. I have been wanting to paint on tea bags ever since I first discovered them on Pinterest. So when Tina Walker asked for artists to join a tea and coffee filter art collaboration, I jumped right in. Having people to support you is often the best way to ensure you will create a project. Plus, when you collaborate with other artists, you get a ton of inspiration.

Not all of my tea bag paintings were successful. The first was a portrait of sorts. Not bad but not great. I think the size of the canvas did not work well with the size of the tea bag. It just never felt right. I decided to set it aside for awhile. Maybe I will figure out how I want to “fix” it later. For attempt number two, I decided to paint a camel. Although I liked the results, my son thought it looked more canine than camel. I chalked it up to practice and made attempt three, which is what you see here. I cut a sheet of watercolor paper down to a size befitting the tea bag. I used mostly watercolor and watercolor pencils with gel ink pens and acrylic paint pens for the details.

I mention the other attempts as a reminder. Artists put their best work forward publicly. There are often a lot of failed attempts or work that just doesn’t quite click. I feel strongly that we should create even if the result is bad art. Creating is a good mental exercise that can have the added benefit of helping you to relax. Art takes practice. You are probably going to make a lot of bad art before you make something good. 

Camel on Tea Bag by Christy Strickler, painted on watercolor paper using ink, watercolor, and acrylic paint

This camel painting is part of an ongoing study I have been doing. He is kind of cute and a good representation of where my camel drawings are right now. I know that with time, I should see my work continue to improve. It will be interesting to see where my camel drawings are a year from now. I might even need to revisit this challenge and create a few more camels on tea bags. I already have a growing collection of different bags just waiting to be painted on.

Don’t forget to check out some of the other wonderful projects from this collaboration and leave them a little comment love!

Tina Walker 

Kristin Peterson 

Tracy Krueger

Sara Branson

Juli Ondrush

Martha Christopher 

Laura Mooney