Last Thursday, we hosted the annual High Tea fundraiser for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection in the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison. We spent a lot of time in the last month re-arranging our art, objects and textiles to showcase everything to its best effect.
Mark decided that he would hang one of our favorite fiber pieces — a large tsutsugaki boro noren — from the edge of the roof across the front of the teahouse. I bought Mark this Japanese shop sign as a 60th birthday present and it hung on our library wall for a long time; though lately it's been rolled up in acid-free tissue paper and stored under the bed. You can see for yourself that it fits the tea house perfectly and makes a beautiful garden feature look even better.
The next big project is to do the fine carpentry work needed to finish off the interior of the tea house. This is something that Mark is considering hiring a professional woodworker to do; someone who will perhaps let Mark assist him.
Mark is still undecided about how to complete the doors and windows of the tea house, which you can see are currently framed in with plastic sheeting. That part of this long-term project will require some looking, some reading and planning, to say nothing of the actual construction work for those entities. And he needs to deal with the water and electric lines which are marked as "off limits" by two pairs of bamboo pyramids.
But in the meantime, Mark decided to take advantage of this special occasion to get a rough idea of how the interior will look once it is all done. He brought out a few of the objects that will eventually call the tea house home to display them in place — if only briefly.
Even with no floor matting in place and lots of fine detail work still to be accomplished, I was thrilled at the impact these few furnishings provided. And it certainly gave all our visitors a glimpse of the next stage in the garden's future.
Simple and simply beautiful.
Posted by: Altoon | Thursday, June 21, 2012 at 11:33 AM
Wow, this tea house itself is a work of art. Can't wait to see it finished.
Posted by: Lisa at Greenbow | Thursday, June 21, 2012 at 12:42 PM
one word: exquisite!
Posted by: sandy lawrence | Thursday, June 21, 2012 at 10:36 PM
Splendid! Your tea house comes alive when "dressed" with pieces from your collection, even if only temporarily. Keep working Mark!
Posted by: Curt Heuer | Friday, June 22, 2012 at 06:39 AM
Gosh, I wouldn't have known it wasn't finished! The flag looks like it was made for the tea house.
Posted by: Barbara H. | Friday, June 22, 2012 at 06:48 AM
Very exciting to see these pictures! Susan
Posted by: S. Adler Sobol | Friday, June 22, 2012 at 06:04 PM
I always love your posts about the tea house. It looks like such a serene space!
Posted by: mamaraby | Saturday, June 23, 2012 at 10:36 PM
All of these complimentary comments are a nice push to move us forward to the next steps!
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Sunday, June 24, 2012 at 08:34 AM
It's a work of art!
Posted by: Pam/Digging | Monday, June 25, 2012 at 07:12 PM
Wow is this ever looking spectacular! How does something like this add to the value of a property, I wonder. It's a very specific style and sophisticated level of design for most mere mortals. I assume it makes your home a MUCH more desirable property for a smaller pool of future buyers. Not that selling is even a thought in your futures - but we're all just caretakers of our properties, not really owners.
Posted by: Jim/ArtofGardening.org | Monday, June 25, 2012 at 09:15 PM
Can't wait to see it soon! Can't believe your progress: impressive...
Posted by: Julie Siegel | Friday, June 29, 2012 at 01:48 PM
I've actually seen the construction of your tea house, from the installation of the frames and sidings. Looking from those pictures, it's getting more beautiful after each stage of construction. I think a round, wooden, fixed window would be better for it. What do you think?
Posted by: William Gulliver | Thursday, July 05, 2012 at 09:27 AM