My wife Nanette, has a secret passion. For her the service of tea is a fascination and a fine art. Perhaps 'secret' isn't quite the right word, though she proudly displays her exquisite china tea services throughout our house, and she's well known in local antique shops for her uncanny ability to pick out precious teapots at bargain prices.

I've borrowed her collection and put it on display in Teacup Cottage. This romantic hideaway is a tribute to my sweetheart; it's exactly the intimate setting she prefers for a tea service. And the misty English countryside is suited to her favorite refreshment; the comfortable chill one acquires on a drizzly evening is warmed to perfection by a cup of tea.

The quaint village glimpsed at a distance takes on the soft focus of fond memory. This is appropriate, as the last painting in my Sweetheart Hideaways Collection. Teacup Cottage along with Brookside Hideaway and Stepping Stone Cottage are memories that I hope collectors will treasure for a long time to come.

-Thomas Kinkade