Half baked? Not even warm. Making a Victorian marble cake.

I was up for a challenge. So, when asked to contribute a sculptural work of art for a late-summer auction, I said yes. The cause is a good one: Cincinnati's YWCA, and the benefit at which the piece will be auctioned Aug. 24 is being cooked up by some of the area's top female chefs. On top of that: all the art is created by women.

Besides, ever since making a trio of cake collages for an exhibit last year, I've toyed with the idea of creating a 3-D paper cake. Here was my chance. It turned out to be, um, a learning experience. It also turned out to take more time, much more time, than I thought it would.

I punched paper, cut it, glued it, braided it, tore it, die cut it, twisted it, made it double sided, wired it for flexibility, sewed it, curled it around pencils and paint brushes, played with color combinations and shapes, and even colored it. A bin of rejects attests to my experiments.

Book making, and sewing techniques were employed to cover the boxes, and to make some of the icing" trim (such as the pleated fancy on the middle layer). A look through newly purchased Victorian cake books, gave me almost too much to think about, After all, excess is a hallmark of the Victorian era.

Here's how it came together. And even though it's on exhibit in Brazee Street Studios' gallery one one through Saturday, it wouldn't be difficult to sneak in and tweak it. After all, the gallery is right across the hall from my studio.

A buzz in the night ...

I've written often about being surprised by the trajectory of a collage - the life it seems to take on, all on its own. Back in November, I tried to document my work on a commission to show its progression.

The piece was for the Sleepy Bee Cafe, a Cincinnati breakfast/lunch restaurant. The only request from owner Sandra Gross was that it be at least 25" x 25," and include bees. I knew almost immediately that the collage would have bees buzzing around a lush garden at night, which would make them sleepy in the morning. From there, it was anyone's guess.

Darkness reigns via endpapers from a vintage
children's book and a black star chart.

The original background papers are jettisoned
in favor of a brighter night sky (endpapers from a vintage
astrology book), and a blue chart of November's sky.
At left, a strip of vellum with the word dream printed
on it (from a recycled paper sample kit). 

The search for bright botanicals begins with antique, and
vintage prints - some hand colored/painted.

The background is not quite large enough.
Hmm, how about a forest border? 

A clump of irises, well into being cut.

More vintage prints (which are reproductions
of antique prints) in various stages of cutting.

Early placement of flowers, some of which need
more trimming of their tangled roots. And, the addition of
handmade paper with leaf inclusions as the bottom border.  

The collage is moved to the drawing table, so it can be viewed
at an angle. More possibilities pile up on top of it, including
a sheet of floral stamps (upper right), and vintage dried flower
arrangements (upper left). 

The final collage, with the addition of more flowers,
a silvery planet, the moon (from a vintage button calendar),
bees (from antique ads at the back of women's magazines),
a blue gazing ball, text on vellum, and a few insects.
The only constant from start to finish? The giant bee.