The ‘Secret Sauce’
Grandma sent me to oil painting lessons in middle school with a wonderful German teacher, Annalise. I remember her as tall with a beautiful, thick accent. Coincidentally, she also taught my aunt and uncle when they were little.
At my young age, the highlight of our weekly Saturday morning classes was heading next door to the Dairy Delight for a greasy hot ham and cheese sandwich and chocolate-chocolate dip cone for lunch. Yes, chocolate-chocolate. Is there really any other way?
Annalise would have us find and cut out a picture from a magazine, clip it on our easel, and get to work replicating it with paint. She would then go around the room assisting each of us with the fine-tuning details: the feathers on the birds, the petals of the flower, and ensuring all our branches in landscapes were jutting out in the correct direction.
What I didn’t realize at the time was we learned how to see the world around us in color. Similar to when the movie The Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to color. I no longer simply saw “green” trees and hills lining the roads anymore. I began seeing the spectrum of the greens, and all the yellows, whites, purples, blacks, and browns speckled in. What a gift to open our eyes to receive the colors surrounding us and how to use color to create dimension, and coupled with a palette knife or a brush.
Flash forward (more years than I’d like to admit) and now I enjoy applying these skills using cookies and icing as my medium. Desserts are clearly still my jam but now I love playing with tones just as much. Color to me is the ‘secret sauce’ of every design. Yes, fine lines, icing tips and details matter but if you nail the color palette, you’re golden.
A great example of this rang true this past week with - of all colors - a white wedding design. The bride’s decor for her bridal shower was elegant white with simple and gorgeous eucalyptus greenery. Rather than working hard to create the whitest of whites, I married the white with hues of brown to soften it up. It deepened the whole color palette and gave the dresses (and overall collection) so much more dimension. For some, it may be barely noticeable but I think you can feel it when you see it, especially in the ruffle details.
During my weekly visit with grandma today, the one thing she had to say about color is how it evokes a feeling. As we left today, the bright pink tulips outside her window definitely evoked a feeling in Blaise and I, as captured here in Blaise’s smile.
Take a moment to notice the spectrum of colors surrounding you in nature today, breathing them in and breathing them out. Namaste.