some pretty pink pictures for emma

i painted a mural yesterday evening for julie & chad walz's daughter emma.

julie wanted emma's name painted above her new "big girl" bed and some flowers that she had seen in the latest pottery barn kids catalog. 
the mural came together beautifully.  It's simple, but really lovely for a little girl's room,
and is the type of decor that will last for a long long time, not just through the toddler years.
it was so much fun to create something pretty for emma, thanks julie & chad!



kerry & elsa get married!

my first wedding cake in a while was a pure joy to create...because i love the bride & groom so much!

kerry hermann & elsa andreson have been our good friends for years, way back when the boys worked at NuFX, haha! it makes me so happy to see these two so in love.

elsa and i worked together for months on the design of the cake. it was three seperate tiers, each on their own cake pedestal. she wanted a more "rustic and not your typical wedding cake" look, so we did a three layer, red velvet cake, making them taller than the average wedding cake tiers, and iced them with a swirly-stripey pattern with a snow white buttercream. the cake was complete when my husband dan added the finishing touch of some hand-made gum paste love birds for the happy couple!

when you can contribute to a great friend's special day like a wedding, and do so by using your creativity & passion for art, it truly is a win-win situation.

thank you kerry & elsa for making me a big part of your special day!

allow me to introduce myself!

hello, and welcome to my blog...

an artist's statement for your enjoyment...

thanks for reading!

Artistry with Paints & Pastries in the Chicagoland Area

I have always been an artist, and I love to express myself through my art.

I am a trained studio artist, with my Bachelor of Fine Arts from the State University of New York at Oswego.  The emphasis of my studio work was in Ceramics and Painting, but one of my favorite mediums to work with, came to me earlier in life, when my step-mother taught me the basics of cake decorating. I went on to become a cake decorator at a bakery in high school and college. 

I have always found tremendous satisfaction working with people in celebration of happy and exciting milestones in their lives. Those milestones could be a birthday, a wedding, a bridal shower or the birth of a baby.

Expressing other people's visions and happiness through my art is a gift that helps me give to others as well as a gift for myself, through creative expression.

I'm always thankful to help someone else have something beautiful and inspiring!