Susan Wallis - Afternoon Tea with the Forest Series - 'Tea Gathered from the Forest Floor'
Inspired by the natural elements in Kristen’s work and her evocative title Night Time in a Chair, I began to reflect on time as a series of quiet transitions. The afternoon, in particular, feels like a threshold—a moment to pause between the demands of the day and the stillness of evening.
Drawing on the textures of the forest floor—mushrooms pushing through damp earth, moss soft underfoot, and bird’s nests woven with care—I imagined afternoon tea as a symbolic ritual. It is more than refreshment; it becomes an act of stillness, mirroring the slow rhythms of nature. Like the layered life of the woods, this simple gesture—pouring, stirring, sipping—holds space for reflection and renewal.
See the work by Kristen Donoghue-Standford from the Pairings show 2025 that inspired this series here.
Vintage tea pot with encaustic mushrooms and moss.
Inspired by the natural elements in Kristen’s work and her evocative title Night Time in a Chair, I began to reflect on time as a series of quiet transitions. The afternoon, in particular, feels like a threshold—a moment to pause between the demands of the day and the stillness of evening.
Drawing on the textures of the forest floor—mushrooms pushing through damp earth, moss soft underfoot, and bird’s nests woven with care—I imagined afternoon tea as a symbolic ritual. It is more than refreshment; it becomes an act of stillness, mirroring the slow rhythms of nature. Like the layered life of the woods, this simple gesture—pouring, stirring, sipping—holds space for reflection and renewal.
See the work by Kristen Donoghue-Standford from the Pairings show 2025 that inspired this series here.
Vintage tea pot with encaustic mushrooms and moss.
Inspired by the natural elements in Kristen’s work and her evocative title Night Time in a Chair, I began to reflect on time as a series of quiet transitions. The afternoon, in particular, feels like a threshold—a moment to pause between the demands of the day and the stillness of evening.
Drawing on the textures of the forest floor—mushrooms pushing through damp earth, moss soft underfoot, and bird’s nests woven with care—I imagined afternoon tea as a symbolic ritual. It is more than refreshment; it becomes an act of stillness, mirroring the slow rhythms of nature. Like the layered life of the woods, this simple gesture—pouring, stirring, sipping—holds space for reflection and renewal.
See the work by Kristen Donoghue-Standford from the Pairings show 2025 that inspired this series here.
Vintage tea pot with encaustic mushrooms and moss.