Peacock Arts District (PAD) Banner Contest

Entry 1: Medi•TEA•tion: Tea For Thought

Peacock Arts District, Fort Pierce, FL
Banner Art Competition March 2019

A good friend of mine contacted me February 28 about a contest that was being held by the City of Fort Pierce for artwork to be featured on light posts in the newly dubbed Peacock Arts District. As soon as I read it, I immediately knew I had to enter and the wheels started spinning in my mind for as to what I could create. Considering the area, I wanted to use the Tea Guru, but I found that I had outgrown the original design. The flat style wasn’t generating enough emotion for me. I almost scrapped the project entirely, but I felt a nudge to give it more contrast and try harder.

I began to add some textures into the background, all but one photographed by myself. The stars featured in the sky section I grabbed from Unsplash, and credit is owed to Viktor Forgacs. Once I got the texture right, I was re-inspired to continue working with the Tea Guru for this project. I created some new gradients to bring more emotion and details into his character, and waited to craft the verbal message until it came to me finally, this morning (3/3). I wanted the verbal message to speak onto trauma and hardships, and we ought not let them consume us.

The entry form of the contest has a description area for the work. So I broke down the layers of this piece as such:

This is a meditative piece featuring a personified cup of tea levitating above a plate, pictured against a bold background. Dark steam flows from the tea cup, breaking the background imagery to reveal a universal message.

The positive message featured in this piece is reflected visually by the intense concentration of the tea cup. Looking upon the cup, we note subtle cracks round it’s left eye, leading us to question what hardships or traumas it has faced. The background features a hard, concrete like texture that represents the tea cup’s literal background history – hard and unforgiving, yet it’s overshadowed by the radiant rays and glow of spiritual enlightenment, fighting for focus on the center stage of the tea cup’s mind.
The layering of these elements speaks onto history that is still present and visible in our everyday lives, but overtaken by contemplation, will, and help from a higher power.

The last day for submissions is March 27th, 2019.

Wish me luck!

*UPDATE*
May 16, 2019: The City of Fort Pierce has finally announced the winners of the Peacock Arts District Banner Contest. Unfortunately, I was not named as one of the winning artists, but those that have won are featured on a post, along with a selection of what I believe are the winning entries. Check out the post on their facebook page, here.

I’m not sure what to do with Tea Guru – I feel this piece should definitely be made into something tangible, but what? Leave suggestions for me below in the comments. 😉