Summer hits San Francisco later than the rest of the country, and yesterday was the first work day that temperatures reached above 90 degrees! After months of fog the sunshine is very welcome, and eight of us rode our bikes to work instead of driving or taking the bus. At Tea we support Spare the Air and all do our best to live a green, healthy lifestyle. These ladies prove you don’t need to compromise your fashion sense to bike to work!

from left - 

Sandra (Tea’s Resident Data Geek, aspiring archer)

Lisa (Tea Brand Steward, Pizza-Partial yogi)

Anaal (Tea Social Media Guru, budding crafting entrepreneur, lover of Vanilla Bean (my bike))

Nuala (Tea Customer Care Extraordinaire, Personal Stylist, Blog Writer, Bicycle Fanatic)

Laura B (Design guru and America’s favorite dancer)

Laura L (Product Dev. Maven, Treasure seeker & Tea beauty advisor)

Isabelle (Clothematician, Kale enthusiast)

Letty (Tea CPSIA and Testing compliance, Collector of curiosities and cat paraphernalia)

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

Check out some other cool manhole imagery from Budapest.

We found these on a blog called Manhole Miscellany.

Here at Tea, we’ve been wondering whether the image on the pullover is really a dragon. Or could it be an eagle?

To us, no matter what you call it, the Nanaos Dragon Pullover is one sweatshirt boys will love to wear back to school and all throughout the fall. It’s sure to be warm, comfortable conversation-starter.

What do you think? dragon or eagle?

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

This set’s tiniest doll even had a painted face!  Thrilling!

Tea’s Nesting Doll Tee

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

found on look out sunshine.

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

postcards of Károly’s Reich linocuts from Tea’s inspiration trip

I saw on the back of the cards that they were by Károly Reich, a Hungarian artist and children’s book illustrator.   I couldn’t wait to see more of his work.   Most of his work is in watercolor or gouache, which I found even more charming than his linocut pieces.  The more I found, the more obsessed I became.  I searched the internet for days trying to find every last piece of his artwork.  I was image searching google.hu.   I found myself on a random assortment of Japanese book sites that collected his work.

just a few of Károly Reich’s watercolor/gouache children’s book illustrations

I managed to get my hands on two of his books.  I got lucky with an Amazon used book search.   Matt the Gooseherd a Hungarian story told in English.  I love the idea of sharing a Hungarian tale for an English audience, I think its a great way for children to learn about new cultures.   Let’s See the Animals teaches children about a variety of woodland creatures, most of which live both in Hungary and North America.  AND! It’s illustrated in crayon!  Crayon!?  A real, respected artist who uses crayon!  I was smitten.  I was ready to design our entire line as a tribute to this man.  While the rest of the team didn’t really go for that idea, there are a few pieces that are inspired by his work (see below).

Tea’s tops inspired by Károly Reich’s illustrations
left:  Folk Tale Graphic Top
right:  Knights Layered Sleeves Tee

Let’s See The Animals and Matt the Gooseherd covers

And if anyone out there knows how to get their hands on this Reich Károly collective book, let me know – I’m still searching for it!

fun fact: I was having a hard time determining if his name was Károly Reich or Reich Károly.  It seemed to be listed differently on different books.  I asked my aunt, a librarian, which she thought was correct.    Turns out that in Hungarian names are written backwards according to the Western way of writing names.  They are apparently the only country that does this.

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

Dragons with antlers from Tea’s travels:

(images from: Tea’s travel photos)

The first creature I came across was actually not a dragon, but the Kirin.  A Kirin has a dragon’s face, deer antlers, a lion-like body and hooves.  Since many of the pictures our team took were from Korean temples that only featured the face of the ‘dragon’ I figured I could have been looking at a Kirin and not a dragon at all.  The more I read about the Kirin the more intrigued I was.  The Kirin is a gentle, nature-loving creature.  It is said that the Kirin would never hurt anything in the natural world; in fact it is so gentle that it can walk across the grass without crushing a single blade.  The Kirin also has the power to walk on water.

Pictures of the Kirin:

(images from: google images, Tea’s travel photos and Praying for the Happiness – Korean Decorative Painting)

I thought I solved the ‘mystery’ of the dragon with antlers but I was still curious about the actual dragons of Korea, so I decided to keep researching.  Like the Kirin, the Korean dragon is also benevolent and peaceful with a strong connection to nature.  There are three types of Korean dragons:  Yong, the most powerful, protects the skies, Yo is a hornless dragon who lives in the ocean, and Dwell is a dragon that lives in the mountains.  The Korean dragon is also a symbol of protection; it is believed the Korean dragon protects humans and wards off evil spirits.  For this reason dragon masks are a common feature in Korean homes, especially on doors to protect the household.

Tea’s dragon mask shirts and our travel images that inspired them:

(images from: Tea’s travel photos, Tea’s Jeju Dragon Graphic Tee and Heem Dragon Polo)

It turns out the Korean dragon is also a mix of many different creatures.  Like the Kirin, the Korean dragon also has horns of a deer and scales like a fish.  Some sources say the Korean dragon also has the head of camel, eyes of a rabbit, claws of a hawk, feet of a tiger, and the belly of a frog.  Unlike most other dragons, Korean dragons do not have wings, but they can still fly.

Examples of Korea’s wingless flying dragons and Tea’s flying dragon tees:

While the exact make up of the Kirin and Korean dragon is hard to determine, since different sources say different things.  It is clear that these wonderful peaceful creatures come from the imaginations of people who have great respect for wildlife.  By combining some of the most unique features of different animals, they create a powerful, God-like creature that embodies the love and respect the Korean people have for the natural world.

These Tea tees celebrate dragons with features from many different animals:

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

To win our 8th $100 birthday certificate…when you were a kid, what did you love about the beginning of summer? Sights, sounds, smells, tastes?  Post on our Facebook page by the end of today for the opportunity to win.  The randomly selected winner will be announced tomorrow.

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes

girls clothing - boys clothing - baby clothes