Growing up in the South, I learned about flowers, bushes and trees from my Mom and Grandmother. The Dogwood carried a mythical fascination for me, as I was taught that it's delicate petals symbolized the Crucifixion of Christ. The pale pink indentations of the petals represented the nails in his hands and feet and the thorny center represented the crown of thorns he wore. I was fascinated with the symbolism, touched by the story of his love and sacrifice, and as I made these delicate sugar Dogwoods, I felt as though my life had come full circle.
Diana Elizabeth came into my life at a time that I needed someone to believe in me, someone to acknowledge the passion I felt for every design, every little detail, no matter how simple and delicate. Her camera magically finds every painstaking crack and crevice, the details that sometimes I feel only I can see. I open her email, and there it is....my soul seems to be exposed with each image. Suddenly it was worth every painstaking second it took to create this perfect little flower. All of the imperfect ones I threw away, the seemingly infinite night, and hours of work were worth this one image. A naked mini vanilla cake seemed to be the perfect temple on which to balance this delicate, symbolic bloom. Is this description too dramatic? Not at all, not if you are a sugar flower lover, creator, or storyteller, then you get it, the effort is not wasted...ever.
If you are a cake designer and love sugar flowers, I suggest you get yourself over to
Craftsy for tutorials from some of the best cake designers and artists in the world. Maggie Austin and I shared a long evening together via her
video, as I formed each of these little beauties with her expert help.
