A dear friend of mine, Pierre Sernet, who’s a French artist as well as a real estate broker by profession, last summer married a charming young lady, Keiko from Kyoto, Japan.

For the past few years, Pierre’s artistic endeavor has inspired him to build a portable teahouse, which is in the form of a cube. Twelve wooden poles with detachable metal hinges make it possible to travel with it around the world to provide a“service”for whoever is open to this experience and desires to sit and have a bowl of tea with him.

He was once again invited by FELLISIMO Gallery on 56th Street to present his works. I arrived early at the opening show, at 5:30 PM, where he had very few people wandering about. Pierre was relaxed with Keiko at his side, as an assistant serving tea to three Japanese guests. Pierre invited me for tea with another two guests. I sat inside the tea house and gazed at his tea procedure as well as his tea’s photoworks on the walls: images of Fuji Mountain; of a countryside mama backpacking a baby in Japan; an Indian man in turban with his calming camel beside him in India; Qui Lin Mountain scenery of a farmer with an impatient cow in China; both man and woman in bikinis on the beach in Brazil, etc.

A great deal of ease, comfort and honorable feelings were presented to me during Pierre’s tea show. Just before I departed, a short conversation between Pierre and a western woman who was festively dressed in a Chinese-style floral embroidered outfit caught my attention. She said to Pierre, “In life, I am open to new experiences and this’s a very nice one. The tea tastes like medicine… But I like it! Thank you!”