Given the opportunity, Bored Panda reached out to Emma Jayne to ask some questions. First, we were curious to find out more about how Jayne ventured into the world of cake decorating.
“As most cake makers do, I stumbled into the world of cake decorating just by making a cake for my son and daughter’s Birthday. Not knowing anything about cake decorating products I learned the hard way with many mistakes but having a background in art, for me this was like creating artworks in a different medium which is why I fell in love with it in the first place.“
Creating such cakes is no easy feat, so we wanted to find out more about Emma’s way of turning passion into a business.
“From the onset of my cake decorating career, there was a demand for my cakes. Realizing this in 2012 I opened my workshop locally and registered as a professional business.”
Each artist has a style of their own and we definitely think cake artists are included in the list, therefore we asked Emma how would she describe her own cake decorating style.
“My range of cake designs go from the celebration, sculpted, wedding and feature cakes for Cake International cake shows. I would describe my style as mainly realistic, I love the challenge of putting as much detail as possible even on large-scale projects. Wedding cakes have always pushed me to add as much of the bride’s wedding gown design, belt detail, and floral designs incorporated in their bespoke cake. This also applies to the custom-made dog or animal cakes and busts.“
We don’t think it is possible to find an artist without their special supplies, so we decided to ask the talented baker about her essential tools.
“There are tools I can’t do without and mainly that is a Dresden tool. My nonstick work board, scrubbing brush (although, that sounds odd!) ball tools and a good range of paintbrushes are essential. Finally, I think that your hands are your best tool of all!”
Emma is not only a talented cake artist but she also is teaching other people how to make unique and artistic cakes, given that asked her what she liked the most when it came to teaching and passing on her skills to others.
“Teaching is my passion. I have been fortunate to travel the world meeting so many wonderful people and pass on the skills I know. I believe in teaching with praise and encouragement, although steering in the right direction if things don’t look right. Laughing and learning together is always the best way to get amazing results and happy students plus it’s so rewarding for me to see people learn new techniques and what they achieve from them.”
The creative process is a whole long journey when it comes to making art, and we found that Jayne agrees with this statement as well.
“I enjoy seeing my subject come to life when working on it. The best part is the sculpting and finishing touches. I often get lost in my large projects for show features as it’s too exciting to stop.”
Making cakes such as Emma’s seems like a lot of hard work already, but she also makes commissioned work too. Given, that the cake artist deals with some clients as well, we were curious to ask if there were any stories where she had people commission something unusual.
“The most unusual design made for a client was the trapeze artist I made for Cake Masters Magazine. This was suspended and life-size which came with many trials and tribulations to achieve the final result.“
