Cooking Art - A recipe for success

Have you ever experienced a gathering of teenage girls who, so involved with their work, were unusually quiet?   I have, just this past week during my "Life is Sweet" art camp.  These six artists were a delightful blend of talent, creativity and individual style - the perfect ingredients for a successful week of art production.

LIFE IS SWEET ART CAMP

Grand Mommie's Pecan Pie by Elly Chen - From They Draw and Cook

Inspiration for our first project came from "They draw and cook"  a showcase  for recipes illustrated by artists all across the globe.  This talent filled site is quite addicting for those who love both art and food.  The cool thing is anyone can draw their recipe and submit it to the site...so I thought ~ let's give this a try!

RECIPE ART

To make this recipe art project a little more meaningful to the girls, I had them bring in one of their families favorite recipes. 

 

 

The first step in creating an illustration for the recipe was to think about a theme or design then sketch that idea onto an 11 x 15 inch sheet of watercolor paper.  In doing so, the girls had to consider balancing shape, color, pattern and movement in their composition. 

The sketches were filled in with water colors painted in various hues and shades.

Each artist had their own creative style which produced a diverse collection of recipe paintings.

ILLUSTRATED RECIPES

A collection of artistic recipe renditions destined to become family heirlooms in their own right.

WHIMSICAL CAKE PAINTINGS

For our next project the girls had to think like "The Cake Boss" and create a special cake.  The wonderful thing about our cakes is they will last longer as they were painted on canvas, not baked in the oven. 

Each girl thought of a fun design, drew it on canvas and painted it with acrylic paints.  The finished pieces are a whimsical wonderment waiting to be hung.

FONDANT  CUPCAKES

In keeping with the "Cake Boss" theme, the girls had an opportunity to work with fondant frosted cupcakes.

For the girls first time working with fondant I think these little cupcakes turned out great and there just might be a future for some of these artists in the cake decorating business...

or, perhaps, just in the cake eating business - or the "let's just have fun creating in the kitchen" business...

BISQUE POTTERY ICE CREAM CUPS

With local temperatures reaching into the mid 90's, our thoughts turned to mouth watering summertime temptations - and there's no better temptation then ice cream!!  And, since you can't just serve a great scoop of ice cream in any old bowl, the girls painted their own unique ice cream cups.

Ahhhh....deliciously delightful - and ready to be filled with fresh made ice cream!  We are loving summertime!!

My thanks to this great group of girls for inspiring me - and each other - with your unique talents.  You are welcome back anytime!!!!!  Keep on creating.