Camellia Teas of Ottawa, founded 2005, Camellia House closed in 2020 (still open for kintsugi repairs only)
by Rebecca Cragg, founder
In the spring of 2005, I repatriated to Ottawa after 7 magical years of teaching English and studying traditional arts in Wakayama City, Japan (first on the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme, and later at the renowned Chiben Gakuen Wakayama designing their elementary curriculum and specialising in entrance exam free composition writing. As a member of the ‘JET’ programme, our mandate was simple: bring our culture to Japan; and then, bring Japanese culture back to our country. I truly believe I am living that mandate of the Japan Exchange Teaching Programme with all that Camellia Teas of Ottawa offers to the National Capital Community through the traditional arts of Japan.
FEATURED IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC!
In 2015, Camellia Teas was included in National Geographic’s “Travel Abroad At Home” on p. 73 as one of just two places in Canada where one can experience an authentic experience of participating in a Japanese Tea Ceremony!
MEDIA COVERAGE
My work with Camellia Teas has been featured in on CBC (national and local TV as well as Radio), CTV (morning shows) Rogers TV (several long episodes on Ikebana, and writing), Regional Contact, as well as in print with The Ottawa Citizen, Tone Magazine, National Geographic Traveller (see above) and more local community newsletters.
Tea Ceremony Presenter & Teacher
My initial vision for Camellia Teas was to celebrate tea cultures of Japan. As the years passed, I received more and more requests from members of the Ottawa community to offer Learning in Retirement mini-courses at Carleton University (from 2007 – 2012 I taught 10 courses on Japanese traditional arts and culture). This in turn led to a number of students asking to study more formally, some of the traditional arts of Japan including tea ceremony, painting, ikebana, kimono and calligraphy and more. I now offer children and adults the opportunity to study a wide range of these beautiful arts in the tranquil setting of Camellia House.
Garden Designer
After moving to Camellia House in 2006, and designing its zen-inspired garden in 2007, many who enjoyed the garden at Camellia House began to request lectures and presentations for local Ottawa garden groups. I have been teaching and designing actively and also offer workshops in a wide variety of subjects related to zen-inspired garden design. I now offer zenscaping consultations and work with clientele from a wide range of budgets to create beautiful, restful, easy-to-maintain and affordable zen-inspired gardens.
Asian Cultural Event Coordinator
I spent much of the 2007 year quietly working on Camellia Teas during my full-time Trillium grant contract as Executive Director of Ottawa’s Asian Heritage Month Society. That year, I developed 75 events for the 31-day festival celebrating Asian culture in Ottawa and building relationships with a number of different groups. Event-planning, added to my background in lesson-planning via teaching comes naturally and Camellia Teas has been coordinating various team-building seminars, corporate events and more at festivals and with clients since then.
Author & Illustrator
From 2008 onwards, I began publishing a series of books, with 5 colouring books in 2015-2017 and the Tea Traveller, coming in late Spring 2018 and ‘Tea Sisters in the Palace’ also in 2018. Both of these books highlight the teaching-learning experience through Chanoyu as well as the Vietnamese Lotus Tea Ceremony. I also work actively with Haiku and Tanka poets with illustrations for their annual publications. Through KADO Ottawa, a Haiku Poetry group and Haiku Canada, I have illustrated over a dozen haiku and tanka books and regularly do commissions for poets as well as custom work for individuals including tattoo design.
Community Leader
After extensive fundraising in 2011 (Camellia Teas raised over $10,000 in nearly 30 events for the Red Cross) for the terrible earthquake and tsunami which struck northern Japan, I retired from 5 years on the boards of both the Ottawa Japanese Community Center as well as Ikebana International’s Chapter 120 to focus exclusively on my work with Camellia Teas. Around 2011, we started the Camellia Tea Circle which celebrated 5 years in 2016 and has been a weekly staple for those who enjoy learning about brewing tea and enjoying the fellowship of other tea drinkers.
Kimono Club
In 2015 I founded the Camellia Kimono Club, a group which meets to celebrate kimono ambassadorship and lessons in the Ottawa area. At the request of the Embassy of Japan in Canada, I coordinated three Kimono Fashion Shows for Japan Day, hosted at Canada’s National Museum of History in 2006, 2008 and 2011.
Current Focus: Awaken through Beauty
In 2017, my focus and passion is on small-group and private instruction. After leading dozens and hundreds of community events, workshops and larger scale activities over the past 12 years – I have found that the highest level of outcome and quality is best through individualized sessions.
I enjoy the peace and tranquility of working with smaller groups, customizing unique and special experiences founded in the traditional arts of Japan. My book on Awakening Through Beauty will come in 2018 and feature photography, art and inspiration on how to add elements of Asian culture to our 21st Century life.
Performances, lectures and large group presentations are also a great joy for me and I recently performed live art to music at Japan Day in front of over 1,250 guests for Ottawa 2017’s presentation. In May 2018 I will be coordinating a large Tea Ceremony presentation at the City of Gatineau’s Asian Heritage Day celebration. These and other presentations which I carry out in English, French as well as Japanese are wonderful opportunities to share these beautiful traditions with a wide audience. From the fall of 2018 onwards, I will concentrate on evening and weekend workshops advertised through facebook as well as private sessions and private lessons for students.
The future of Camellia Teas
In March of 2020, the global pandemic forced the closure of Camellia House and ultimately, its sale in November of 2020. Our last tea ceremony events were held that summer to celebrate 15 years of incredible events, concerts, workshops, art exhibitions and more!
Camellia Teas offers kintsugi repairs and lessons for current students only (no new students are accepted).
I want to take the time to thank you, dear reader of the website, and visitor, student and supporter of my work with Camellia Teas to let you know that truly, your support and patronage allows this project to continue. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much!