Raise a cup to unique art from Shrewsbury's Marie
While most people throw their used teabags in the composting bin, one Shrewsbury artists uses hers for a more unusual pastime.
Marie Kitson snips the corners off the bags, empties them out - and then uses them for painting miniature reproductions of the town's coffee shops and cafes.
And her work has proved such a success that some of those featured are keen to buy the finished articles.
Marie, 37, had just given up her job as a teacher teaching art and design when she moved to Shrewsbury with her husband Paul. Inspired by her surroundings she decided to take a different approach to painting her surroundings.
"I really don't know how I came up with the idea and it just clicked in my head. I love recycling and painting and this seemed to be the best way of combining the two. It takes me about an hour to paint each one and I can do about five in a day. I have had a lot of people online suggesting which to do.
"I have recently got married and although I am from Telford we moved to the Belle Vue area of Shrewsbury. There's all the architecture and history here and that has been a real inspiration. I started off doing the coffee houses and I focused on the independents. Now I am going to move on to the pubs, there are around 70 of them so that will keep me busy.
"A couple of the cafes have said they would like to sell them for me and I am more than happy for that."
Marie uses a tiny brush to paint her perfect pictures and paints with watercolours which appear like acrylic.
"This is just something I thought I would do as I was between jobs but everything happens for a reason. I was just walking the dog and decided the time was right to start painting and it has gone from there."
