A Lick of Paint

Art and food have always been the best of friends. Food has been gracing award-winning canvases for centuries and Michelin-Star restaurants have plates worthy of museums. Keeping with the creative tradition, Buttercream Bakeshop's Tiffany MacIsaac and Alexandra Mudry-Till have launched a new series, Art on Cake, to give way to the artistry of pastry and painting while collaborating with local artists and raising money for charity. I'm super excited that I'll be the first featured artist to collaborate with Buttercream on this playful project!

I will be creating three unique, edible art pieces (cakes!) in collaboration with Buttercream and they will be auctioned off with all proceeds benefiting Project Create, which provides arts education and creative space to children and youth experiencing homelessness and poverty in Washington, D.C. The bidding is now open here (starting bid $100) and will close Friday July 20th at 6pm. Winners will be able to select their preferred flavor of cake and the cake will serve at least 22-24. Learn more about the kids of Project Create in this wonderful video below.

Buttercream's cakes are known for fantastical and innovative designs, often hand painted or sculpted with 3-D elements. It is the perfect complement to my heavily textured, frosting-like painting style. My three cakes will be inspired by my polka daub, cherry blossom, and hydrangea paintings. I will use custom cake knives similar to my painting knives to decorate these cakes in my signature style.

I hope you'll join us in raising money for this important creative charity for local DC kids! Remember, bidding closes at 6pm this Friday! Submit your bids here!

*My work is currently on display and available for purchase in Buttercream’s shop for the duration of the auction.

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Emerging Artists

emerge: to come forth into view or notice, as from concealment or obscurity.

Shortly after graduating from art school in 2003 I was accepted into an Emerging Artists group show in Georgetown. At the time I thought it was something that would garner recognition and allow me to eventually move out of my parents house in the suburbs of DC. I was wrong. Reality was that it wasn't that easy. I did eventually move out, but only after I accepted a steady, well-paying government job. For years I was in the grind, working full-time during the day and going to the studio at night. I felt like I was not really an Emerging Artist, but a Struggling Artist. Fast forward 15 years, and although I'm blessed to have a successful studio practice, it has required extreme dedication and self-reflection on a daily basis.

Being an artist isn't all about recognition though. It's about the desire to always want to create and to find inspiration in something new and unexpected. It's a life-long journey, requiring an incessant desire to make and perfect our craft, and to share it with the world.

The term Emerging Artist came back to me last weekend while serving as a reviewer at a local Portfolio Review (hosted in conjunction with the East Coast Art Collective's group show at Willow Street Gallery). It was my first time sitting on the reviewer side of the table so I was probably just as intimidated as the artists on the other side. The last time I had my portfolio reviewed was for a grad school interview in 2003 and it was intimidating and not inspirational whatsoever.

What I learned being a reviewer is that there are so many artists out there in our community who are starting out and are excited and inspired to make art. All they need is a little encouragement and advice to get them started. Some were young artists who just moved into their first studio space or were searching for their own unique style. Many had been in the gallery scene for years but still hadn't found their audience. I was inspired by these artists and their willingness to put their art out there and receive constructive criticism from relative strangers. I also enjoyed hearing their goals and trying to figure out ideas for how to get them where they want to be. Nothing about being an artist is easy, but encouragement and networking will only make us that much stronger as a creative community.

Below: Emerging Artist Romper, available at the Whitney Shop, $28.

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Supplies for Impasto Painting

Looking to experiment with impasto palette knife painting? Here is a quick cheat sheet of my favorite supplies to get you started. While I strongly prefer using oils to achieve texture, heavy body acrylics paired with a good medium can almost mimic the textural qualities of oils. (**This is not sponsored by any of the following companies, it is simply my list of favs)

Oil Painting Supplies

1. Gamblin White Oil. This will help you achieve a nice buttery consistency and is about $50 for a 16oz can from Dick Blick. I tend to use at least three to four times the amount of white as I do other colors combined, so it's more cost efficient to buy the white in bulk. Titanium white tends to turn yellow more often than zinc white, so keep that in mind.

2. Mediums. You may want a medium to beef up and thicken your oil so you can get more use out of your oil paints, thus saving some money. Liquin Impasto Medium is a semi-gloss, quick-drying, non-yellowing medium perfect for palette knives and will retain crisp textures. Another medium I enjoy that creates a softer texture is Gamblin cold wax. It is made of beeswax and will dry no harder than a candle, so it's important to only mix in about 1/4 wax to 1 part oil paint for a nice smooth, matte finish.

3. Colored Oil Paints. In terms of selecting which brand of colored oil paints to purchase, I use a range from Winsor & Newton, M. Graham, Gamblin, Utrecht, and Dick Blick. Utrecht seems to be the most affordable, but often doesn't have the bold coloration and pigmentation as some of the higher-end brands. I suggest buying small tubes of the colors and experimenting until you find which colors you like. You'll be surprised at the differences in prices, heaviness of texture, and brilliance of colors across brands. I always buy exclusively through Dick Blick since they almost always offer discounts and free shipping for larger orders. If you want to experiment with the higher-end paints, I highly suggest Williamsburg, the oil paint line from Golden Paints.

Acrylic Painting Supplies

1. Dick Blick Titanium White. For acrylic painting I generally stock up on large jars of Dick Blick Titanium White. Similar to my oil painting process, I generally go through at least one jar of white per painting while using small amounts of color from other tubes.

2. Colored Tubes. For bright beautiful colors that maintain their peaks I like to use a range of tubes including Liquitex Heavy Body and Golden Heavy Body. It is important to only buy the "Heavy Body" variety because the "Soft Body" will flatten out while drying. Some of my favorites include manganese blue, cadmium red, pthalo blue, cadmium or naphthol red, and sap green (all by Liquitex). Golden also has a range of beautiful heavy body acrylics, with some of my favorites being their hansa yellow medium and florescent pink. These tend to be a little pricier than other brands so you may just want to sample one or two to see if you can tell the difference. Try to avoid house paints. These are not archival and will not retain color like the artist quality paints.

3. Heavy Gloss Gel Medium. I also always use the super heavy gloss gel medium by Liquitex, which can create sculptural effects that maintain their high peaks. I prefer the gloss for a nice shine, but they also have matte if you prefer.

Palette Knives

I suggest purchasing at least five different knives in a range of sizes and shapes and playing around until you find your go-to favorites. There are many brands on the market but you should always get stainless steel if possible to prevent rusting and in my opinion they tend to bend less easily than other types. You can find knives for around $8.

Any questions?? Let me know, I'm always happy to offer suggestions or answer questions. Have fun!!

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