by J.A. Jones, Contributor
Demetasphere/Dionne Seevers with tea service set up. Photo: JA Jones
Tea rituals have been practiced as an art form to encourage community connectedness and relaxation worldwide, with roots linked to ancient Chinese Gong Fu traditions.
But the tea service, tea party, and/or tea ceremony is a global act that can be found in countries including Morocco, India, and Japan. While images of British tea parties are common, the tradition also has a long lineage among African Americans.
Tea ceremonies, or services, combine relishing selected teas with meditative thought or intentional discussion. And, according to long-time tea service hostess and artist Dionne Seevers, aka “Demetasphere,” it is an opportunity to slow down and practice a period of self-care.
Seevers/Demetasphere sees tea service as another “art form.” Photo: JA Jones
On Saturday, May 2, Seevers/Demetasphere will offer the public a mini-tea service experience during the “Water Consciousness Community Gathering” taking place at WADA/ArtsXchange, 515 22nd Street South, during the 4th Tampa Bay Chalk Festival held by Pinellas Diaspora Arts Project.
Through the theme “Our Watery Futures,” the festival annually explores Tampa Bay’s environment and how we are protecting and honoring our most precious natural resource.
Art by Demetasphere, courtesy of Demetasphere.art.
Seevers has been offering public tea experiences since 2010; for her, it is simply another art form. The name Demetasphere reveals the artist’s “quest to share information of what is seemingly ‘beyond.’ The focus of the art is holding a mirror to what the universe is to me: chaotically organized and transformative.”
Ultimately, said Seevers, Demetasphere is a personal mantra gathering all of her interests under an “umbrella of understanding” that reminds her to be aware and compassionate about “this thing called life.”
“Diploneis abscondita,” Demetasphere
Seevers’ visual explorations incorporate DNA strands, infinity symbols, amoeba-like creatures, and neural webs with gold leaf and rich colors evoking “dark matter” and inner pathways. She has exhibited at locations including the Studio@620 and Carrollwood Cultural Center, where she curates as part of the Black Art Matters Collective; she is also the newest board member of Pinellas Diaspora Arts Project (PDAP).
A global citizen born into the military, childhood memories linking the artist to the feeling of tea as comfort. Growing up largely in Germany, where her parents were stationed, she recalls “my dad making sun tea all the time; It’s essentially just putting the tea bags inside of a tall carafe with a lid, and you just let it sit in the sun and brew. Something about that, the flavor was very dense and rich and layered.” Since then, she says, “I’ve always had appreciation [for tea].”
“3 Sisters DNA: Dana,” Demetasphere
Seevers joined the military herself, and when her tour was over, she went to stay with a sister in Okinawa, Japan, where she met her now-husband. Their travels included time in Georgia and India, but it wasn’t until her husband got stationed in Virginia that her journey into public tea service began.
During that time, she started gathering other military wives whose partners were deployed to her home to commune together through tea, sandwiches, and all the other delicacies that go along with traditional tea parties.
By the time their daughter was born, the family had moved to Italy, and it was there that Seevers was able to fully explore the art call that had grown steadily since graduating from high school.
But it was also during that time that she fell ill with a mysterious disease that almost killed her.
Suffering for a year from bleeding that wouldn’t stop, she was finally diagnosed with adenomyosis. “I really thought it was dying; I was like, I can’t walk up the stairs. I can’t walk our daughter to the bus stop. Like I was having difficulty breathing. Looking back now…I was dying.”
Art in home tea studio, by Demetasphere
After the procedure that ultimately saved her life, self-care became a mandatory practice, and tea was part of that. Fast forward to Covid, when she began taking part in meditative tea service online, Seevers realized that now her tea exploration had taken on a more intimate and important meaning; she no longer wanted to throw tea parties, but craved a new way to experience tea with others – and before long, her tea services were born.
As part of May 2nd’s Water Consciousness Gathering, Seevers will encourage attendees to slow down and experience the taste and aroma of the tea, as well as the feeling of the liquid as it enters their system. For her, it is an opportunity to get others to stop, savor, and experience gratitude for water as the critical component for healthy living.
Demetasphere wall sculpture in home studio
For Demetasphere, awareness of the way water feels in our mouths is an example of “water consciousness.” “Drinking like this just caused me to slow down,” she acknowledged — noting that, during her service, she tries to get attendees, “to be more focused about what the body’s doing.”
“When I’m drinking tea — I don’t want it to be something for myself that is just ‘drink a glass of water.’ I want it to be something that — when I say ceremonious, I think anything can be ceremonious. I think that if we slow down [while doing] things that we enjoy, we probably appreciate it even more, [gaining] a deeper appreciation for certain things.”
The Water Consciousness Community Gathering at WADA starts at 12 pm with a conversation with Dominique Cobb, project director of East Tampa FLOWERS, Leah Biery, executive director of education for Tampa Bay Watch, and Captain Maranda Douglas of Top Nauts, who is also the first Black Woman Mariner Captain with luxury cruise line 1st Klass Enterprise LLC.
There will also be a community art mural experience, and an opportunity to learn about Dr. Masaru Emoto’s research into the impact of human consciousness on bodies of water, before Seevers caps off the experience with her Tea Service.
Tampa Bay Chalk Festival flyer
The event is free, but registration is required. Register here: https://tampabaychalkfestival.com/water-consciousness-community-gathering/
Follow Demetasphere on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demetasphere/https://www.instagram.com/demetasphere/
