Rooibos Takes Art World by Storm

Zimbabwean-born artist, Jeanne-Marie Webb, who now lives in Cape Town with her husband and two teenage daughters, has put rooibos very firmly on the global art world’s centre stage as she continues to bedazzle art-lovers from far-flung places with her delicate paintings on none other than rooibos teabags.

The concept behind her year-long “One Face a Day” project, which was recently exhibited in the Mother City, started a few years ago when she searched tirelessly for the perfect miniature substrate for her paintings.

“I happened to stumble upon a tattered old rooibos sachet one night whilst rummaging through one of my old paper boxes, and I thought, why not? It proved to be the perfect canvas for what I had in mind, and I absolutely love the concept of creating unique pieces of art on a teabag,” says Webb.

Through the years, she’s tested various teabags, but it’s the red residue on rooibos sachets, when mixed with a primer, that results in the perfect skin-tone for her portraits.

“I had no idea that the medium would become such a hit. During my ‘One Face a Day’ project, scores of Facebook friends asked if they could join me, which later evolved into an online workshop as I shared the process of how to paint creative portraits on tiny rooibos sachet with art-enthusiasts from around the world. The growing interest led to hundreds of artists flocking to buy rooibos on Amazon, and there’s no sign of this trend letting up just yet,” says Webb.

This past week’s online auction which was open to international buyers, saw her selling in excess of 150 paintings to overseas buyers. About 130 was sold to local art collectors at her recent exhibition. She is also booked to do another online auction later this year which will include some of her other works and remaining rooibos teabag paintings. Interested buyers can go to www.jeannemarieart.com for more info.

Webb has also been invited to visit the US later this year to share her process of painting on rooibos teabags with various studios.

Adele du Toit, spokesperson of the SA Rooibos Council says the trend is on the up as more artists use rooibos and even dried tea leaves in their art.

“Artists are on a constant watch to find new mediums to perform their art in. Taking inspiration from sand-painting, in which grains of sand, are corralled to create an image, many artists are realising the same can be done with tea and tisane’s.

“It’s also a great way to upcycle and gives rooibos sachets a second life. Artists can enjoy a cup of Rooibos first and then save the sachet for when they want to work on it. Rooibos can also be used as a subtle dye or can be pasted as pieces of empty bags into a two-dimensional painting. Take Colorado artist, Wewer Keohane, for example. Her most striking creations are teabag kimonos (robes). Each garment combines at least 600 steeped, dried and glued bags into a work of art that, while fragile, is actually wearable too.

“Ruth Tabancay of Berkeley, Calif, has even made quilts out of teabags. Her quilts are full-sized and some take as many as 1 400 teabags to complete. The concept of painting on or using teabags in art is truly unique, and forces artists to work on a canvas that isn’t blank, but is instead imprinted with odd colours and textures. The creative possibilities are endless,” says du Toit.

The painting that launched Jeanne-Marie’s journey into rooibos art, along with many other people around the world #TeaBagGirls; #TinyBagsofLove.