My first wedding cake commission- for my cousin, Anita. Luckily, she gave me a lot of freedom- basically saying that I could do what I wanted. I knew the colour scheme and I took into account her personality and her style.
Wedding cake symbolism, history of wedding cakes.
What interested me- the personal aspect. My own journey. The run up to the wedding- the dress, the venue. But I also saw it as a snapshot in time of my family. Where we were all at in our lives. There are conventional wedding albums- of the actual day. I wanted to create an altnerative wedding album. From the cake decorators perspective. Photos, voice recordings. The ten days leading up to wedding.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Birthday Cake, Forest Cafe
What is the Forest Cafe? A volunteer run arts initiative in Edinburgh. Non-hierarchy. It is a central part of Edinburgh's cultural scene- means a lot to people. Art gallery, cafe, music venue. Throughout my five years living in Edinburgh, I came to the Forest, regularly, but this was the first summer I volunteered. It also happened to be the summer that the Forest celebrated its 10th birthday- and I put myself forward to make the cake!
The challenge was to made a cake which catered for about 150 guests. I also wanted it to epitomised what the Forest Cafe was about- equality, creativity and DIY. Myself and a team of Forest volunteers set about designing a cake which fitted the bill- and came up with a design for a nine foot wooden structure in the shape of a cake which guests (2 at a time) could go into and take a cupcake- hanging on a ribbon from the ceiling of the cake.
This happened at the end of a 10 course banquet. We were all given candles to put in our cupcakes, and sang 'happy birthday' to the Forest at the top of our voices. It was an epic moment.
The challenge was to made a cake which catered for about 150 guests. I also wanted it to epitomised what the Forest Cafe was about- equality, creativity and DIY. Myself and a team of Forest volunteers set about designing a cake which fitted the bill- and came up with a design for a nine foot wooden structure in the shape of a cake which guests (2 at a time) could go into and take a cupcake- hanging on a ribbon from the ceiling of the cake.
This happened at the end of a 10 course banquet. We were all given candles to put in our cupcakes, and sang 'happy birthday' to the Forest at the top of our voices. It was an epic moment.
Cake Class, Minto House
Exhibition as cake demonstration. Other people- letter writing club, painting demonstration, opera singing class. Me- cake decorating. It was more an experiment. I wanted to see what people did when a slab of icing, a cake and cake decorating tools are put in front of them. I showed them skills if they asked, but most of the participants were happy to play around themselves. What was most interesting was the conversations that came as a result of a group of people sitting together. Showed me that the process of cake decorating was quite meditative. subconscious movements. Could have quite in depth conversations while making shapes out of icing. At the end of the exhibition, we had a party and ate all of our cake creations. All quite childlike- but interesting.
Jenner's Christmas Cake
In the months preceding Christmas 2009, Edinburgh City Council gave five Scottish artists 1000 pounds to design an alternative Christmas decoration to be situated in Edinburgh City Centre over December. I proposed a seven foot, edible Christmas Tree, which could be eaten by the public in the days coming up to Christmas.
The situation went two ways. The council wanted to attract shoppers to spend more money at Christmas. My Christmas Cake fitted the brief perfectly- fitted nicely into the pages and situated in Jenner's Department Store on Princes Street. However, it gave me the opportunity to venture out of the gallery network and insularity of the 'art community'. As I handed out pieces of the Christmas cake to shoppers, I realised that it the art work wasn't just about appreciating the physical object. The cake brought strangers together. It was a facilitator for relationships to form, conversations to happen.
The situation went two ways. The council wanted to attract shoppers to spend more money at Christmas. My Christmas Cake fitted the brief perfectly- fitted nicely into the pages and situated in Jenner's Department Store on Princes Street. However, it gave me the opportunity to venture out of the gallery network and insularity of the 'art community'. As I handed out pieces of the Christmas cake to shoppers, I realised that it the art work wasn't just about appreciating the physical object. The cake brought strangers together. It was a facilitator for relationships to form, conversations to happen.
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