Wedding Cake Portrait Painting

Detail of Wedding Cake Portrait in Progress by Jennie Traill Schaeffer

I had the good fortune to attend the lovely wedding reception of Mr. and Mrs. Craig and Tracey Ryan on October 2, 2010 at the Primavera Regency in Stirling, NJ. My husband, Lee, works with Tracey at a very small company where everyone is like family. Tracey invited the entire office and it was a chance for me to meet her, as well as spend the evening with Lee's colleagues. Not only was it a beautiful wedding, but we had a terrific time celebrating Tracey and Craig's special day.

In lieu of a registry gift, Lee and I decided, well mostly me since I would be the one spending my time, to present Tracey and Craig with a Wedding Cake Portrait of their cake. Since I am doing this on top of my other obligations, I've only just started it this month. Fortunately, wedding etiquette says I have a year, and Tracey and Craig told me to take my time. My goal is to complete this prior to their first anniversary (I think I can make that deadline)! 

Tracey and Craig's Wedding Cake made by Bovella's Pastry Shoppe

The cake was designed and baked by Bovella's Pastry Shoppe of Westfield. Tracey jogged my taste bud memory with this description: "it was white cake with cannoli cream filling, vanilla butter cream icing, and white and red fondant on the outside with decorative red piping." Doesn't that sound yummy? In many of my Wedding Cake Portraits, I've included textural or ornament details from the bride's wedding gown, and I'm awaiting pictures from Tracey to incorporate some aspects of her dress. 

Wedding Cake Portrait in Progress, 9" x 12", Oil on Canvas Panel, by Jennie Traill Schaeffer

Here's the painting in full view as of today. There's quite a lot of work to go, and some troubles with the structure, which I will correct. The whites will get brightened with more layers and I'll determine how to finish the background, probably with something from Tracey's dress. The last touches will be the arabesque piping, just as they would be on the cake. 

I look forward to sharing the finished painting with you, in the meantime, follow it's progress on Wedding Cake Portrait's Facebook Page. Next blog post coming soon - recent TraillWorks' commissions, gifts, and charitable donation work!

June Wedding . . . Cake Portrait

I write frequent posts about my students, my fine artwork featuring my vintage appliances and aprons, but haven't spent much attention on the very interesting Wedding Cake Portrait. This month, the month of weddings, I finished my first Wedding Cake Portrait commission of the year. I was hired by one of my former college roommates to commemorate her sister and brother-in-law's wedding cake from their February nuptials.

The cake, photographed by Sara Schulte of the Philadelphia area, was composed of three white frosted layers, trimmed with black ribbon, garnished with red roses. It was a simple, and elegant cake. When I was coming up with composition ideas for Michelle, she told me her sister loved her dress, particularly the bow accent below the bodice. I came up with a piece that incorporated that aspect as a punctuation and backdrop for the portrait. 

If you're in Newton during the next two weeks, you can see it in person in my gallery window. I'll be working on framing suggestions to finish it off and send it to Michelle's sister and brother-in-law. This cake was a joy to paint and I wish the couple years of happiness.

Image Above: February 26, 2010, Oil on Canvas, 11" x 14", ©2010 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

Almost Finished

I'll be finishing my latest Wedding Cake Portrait this week - check out the full image on my Facebook page. The work stalled since I came down with a fever / infection from nursing this week. But I'm feeling better and will be going to the studio today to work on it.

I've almost come to terms with wrapping up giving my son breast milk. He was tongue-tied at birth and very difficult to nurse so as an alternative after help from many resources with little success I decided to solely express milk. I've managed so far, but the schedule four times / day, about an extra two hours, spent attached to the breast pump is not only difficult to stick to considering my work, it's also becoming exhausting and is probably the cause of my illness this week.

Many moms and other breastfeeding proponents have been encouraging my breastfeeding. But, they don't seem to understand my situation and my schedule. I was initially hoping to nurse for a year, but considering Joel's circumstances, the shift to pumping shifted my goals to pump for six months. I've exceeded those expectations by going for 7 1/2 months and by the time I gradually stop, it will probably go well into 8 months.

I have to thank my best friend (a stay at home mom who has nursed both her two girls for a year) for putting it very bluntly and told me not to feel badly if I stop and I shouldn't compare myself to her b/c her job is as stay at home mom, and she added that her kids watch too much TV. She reaffirmed the notion that no mom is perfect and we do the best we can for our kids, given our situations. Thanks, Rach, for supporting me, making me laugh, and being honest! So as the wedding cake becomes more complete, so will my pumping sessions.

It's a Mixed Blessing

Wedding Cake Portrait Commission, In-progress, 6" x 6" ceramic tile

I am so grateful that in such a tough economy TraillWorks continues to grow and do well. In the first few months of 2009 I nearly filled all of my available lesson slots, sold a painting and received two Wedding Cake Portrait commissions. All of this while adjusting to life with a four month old. Up until this point, with the help of two wonderful moms (mine and my mother-in-law) and husband, Joel and I have been managing the workload together.

Now as more commissions come in, and my marketing and painting time have decreased I see the need for more help. I'm looking into all sorts of daycare options, from a college helper to actual daycare facilities. The entire prospect makes me feel very torn; sending him to someone else to care for him while I develop my artwork seems almost cruel on one hand.

On the other it's an opportunity for him to develop socially and eventually appreciate that his mom was able to run her own business (I hope). The success of TraillWorks is a mixed blessing for me and my new family, bringing new challenges and opportunities. I'd love any advice from moms who are artists!

***Vote for TraillWorks as your Favorite NJ Gallery
Go to www.newjerseylife.com
click on The Reader’s Choice A-List and select Galleries

Love Art this Weekend

love rocks, mixed media, ©2009 Kathy Morawski

Join me in New Jersey for an artful weekend of love: two exhibitions, a 2nd Saturday, and Sweetheart Specials. 

Friday : 6 - 8pm

23rd International Juried Show Opening Reception

Visual Art Center of New Jersey

Summit

Saturday: 5 - 8pm

Love ROCKS! Opening Reception

TraillWorks

Newton

2nd Saturday / Sweetheart Walk 

Shop, dine and stroll with your lover on Spring Street in Newton

Highlight: JUMBLE CONTEST

Visit area stores to find the letters of a jumbled Valentine phrase. Unscrambled phrases can be entered to win a gift basket featuring coupons, gift certificates and other items from participating businesses. TraillWorks included a $25 gift certificate towards any purchase.

Sweetheart Specials

All artwork by Kathy Morawski at TraillWorks 20% off

Purchase any artwork at TraillWorks and get a free calendar 

(Valentine's Day only)

Commission a Wedding Cake Portrait and receive a set of 10 linen notecards featuring your completed portrait.

(during the month of February)

What would Monet Think?

Monet's Garden Cake, Oil Pastel on Arches, 11" x 16", ©2008 Jennie Traill Schaeffer, Private Collection

Today, look at my most recent wedding cake portrait which was commissioned for a Christmas gift. The recipient helped design the cake with NYC baker, Colette Peters.

Here is the original cake, on Colette's web site:

This was so much fun to create, considering the inspiration for the cake, and the vivid colors! I will be emailing Colette to show her my rendering of her cake, along with another cake she designed that I memorialized for a client over a year ago. I'll let you know if I hear back from her. If you know of a baker that I might be able to partner with I'd love an introduction.

Love is in the Air and so are Wedding Cake Portraits

As Valentine's Day nears, I'm thinking a lot about love. My new little boy, Joel, has got me head over heels. Of course, I'm still madly in love with my husband, too. But, Joel has definitely changed my life and I am surprised to agree with everyone who tells you that you will fall in love with your baby like nothing ever before.

Let me share with you in the next few posts about all things having to do with love.


To start off, let me remind you about my Wedding Cake Portraits, a fantabulous way to preserve your wedding day and makes for a truly distinctive Valentine's Day gift.
Gift certificates are available for giving on February 14th.

And, now through the end of February, any booked Wedding Cake Portrait commission will receive a set of ten linen note cards featuring the completed wedding cake (a $29 value).

TraillWorks is Celebrating Sweetest Day

Digital Scan courtesy of The Cleveland Public Library.

Started back in 1921 by a Cleveland citizen named Herbert Birch Kingston who worked at a local candy company, Sweetest Day was a holiday meant to honor people who's lives are often forgotten. Today it has become a celebration of both strangers and friends and family that have been sweet to you during the year. This is thought to be a Hallmark holiday, but it really stems from genuinely good intents to recognize others.

The scan above is from a 1922 editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer proclaiming Sweetest Day and why you should observe it. Here's an excerpt from the paper " . . . On this day, next Saturday, steal enough time from the turmoil of routine affairs, to bring a bit of good cheer to those you love. A present, perhaps, and more than that add a loving word--a smile--a kiss. . . ."

Give someone you love the sweetest memory from your special day - a Wedding Cake Portrait. TraillWorks is offering 20% off all Wedding Cake Portraits
commissioned NOW through October 21st.

Sweetest Day Festival - Saturday, October 18, 2008

In honor of the Greater Newton Chamber of Commerce's observance of Sweetest Day through its 1st Annual Sweetest Day Festival

Visit Spring Street between 12 - 4pm to celebrate all things sweet:

• baking contests & sales
• sidewalk sales
• Sweet Harvet Collection - food donations for local pantries / shelters

June is for Weddings

As June nears its end, wedding season is in full bloom. This year I only had one wedding memorial day weekend and I'm done for the year. But I know many of you have summers chocked full of wedding events.

If you're wondering what to get the special couple or if you are in need of a unique greeting card, go no further.

A custom wedding cake portrait is the perfect gift for the discerning couple. If you're in a bridal party, consider it as a very memorable, unique gift the whole group can go in on, or if you're just looking for something beyond the standard registry gift. Visit weddingcakeportraits.com for more information on commissioning a portrait.

You can add a special touch to the greeting card you present the bride and groom with a card depicting one of my wedding cakes. Orders can be made below.

December, 4, 2004
4.5" x 6.25" Linen Greeting Card / Envelope
$4.49

Wedding Day I
6.25" x 4.5" Linen Greeting Card / Envelope
$4.49

Wedding Day II
6.25" x 4.5" Linen Greeting Card / Envelope
$4.49

Wedding Day II
6.25" x 4.5" Linen Greeting Card / Envelope
$4.49

Enthroned Wedding Cake
4.5" x 6.25" Linen Greeting Card / Envelope
$4.49

Wedding Cake Portraits already Written about

Wedding Cake Portraits are quickly winning people over. Just yesterday Nicole Block, designer and owner of Nic Events, a stationary / event designer (and college friend of mine), devoted an entire blog post to my new web site. Thanks, Nicole, for the extraordinary mention and addition of my site to your wedding industry faves!

And you can order a portrait before the wedding. I'll make a beautiful card to present to the bride and groom detailing what they'll receive, when and from whom. Your gift will be more than timely.

jennie@weddingcakeportraits.com
www.weddingcakeportraits.com

Eat Your Cake and Have it Too!

It's official, www.WeddingCakePortraits.com is now up and running! The long-anticipated site launched on Wednesday. Of course there will be some things to tweak as time goes by. In progress since January, the site features a gallery of original paintings of wedding cakes; testimonials by clients and colleagues; a page on how to order; news; a link to this blog.

You may be asking why paint a portrait of a wedding cake, but why not? After my first anniversary, I was going to eat my entire wedding cake topper by myself; it was chocolate and I am a chocoholic. Then I thought I really should paint it and came up with a conceptual series of paintings looking at the metaphor of the transformation of a wedding cake and marriage. Soon thereafter an article in the NY Times discussed brides finding new ways of preserving their wedding gowns by being photographed in the expensive gowns, post wedding, in unusual environments. The idea for Wedding Cake Portraits was born.

As wedding season approaches, consider a new and different gift for that special bride and groom that will be sure to become an heirloom of the 21st century.


jennie@weddingcakeportraits.com
www.weddingcakeportraits.com

Day 20 at Peters Valley

Frozen Wetlands, Thunder Mountain, Peters Valley/Delaware Water Gap National Park © Jennie Traill Schaeffer

I had promised you two posts ago that I would show you some of the small sketches I've been working on.

Well, you'll just have to wait. I keep forgetting and am busy with refining Mixer Maesta. I know, I said it was done, but I organized a studio tour for the artists in residence on Friday night to see each others work.

In so doing, all of the artists unanimously agreed that the halos were problematic, not reading as halos but more like dishes. Being confronted with the painting every day, I didn't see it that way and was so glad for their feedback. Basically, everything in the painting is realistic, but the halos were painted in a flat, abstract shape. Towards the Renaissance, as paintings increased in depth and realism, so too did the halos.

I've decided to scratch out the halos, shift their perspective and make only a hint at a halo by using an edge and a thin transparent layer of gold paint.

I can't show you the piece yet, it's still not finished. Hopefully by the end of the week. In the meantime I painted another version of my wedding cake for my new web site to launch in February.

12/4/04, Oil on Panel, 11.5 x 16", © Jennie Traill Schaeffer

In the meantime, the photo of today shows a frozen over wetland on Thunder Mountain, a part of Peters Valley where the wood, photo, fiber, photography and fine metals studios are. I drove up there on Sunday to show my parents around. It's breathtaking!

Christmas Crunch

This holiday I upped my email marketing and extended a special sale to my customers which led to increased holiday sales. The only trouble being that much of the work was custom or had to be painted. Not wanting to lose the business, I accepted.

As of yesterday I finished my final orders and will be shipping them out for Christmas delivery tomorrow. The frantic pace with which I worked for the past two weeks was challenging on both me and my husband. In addition to one wedding cake portrait, five 6 x 6 tiles, and calendar orders, I got a sinus infection and celebrated my anniversary and 30th birthday. Something's gotta give next year.

It made for a good year-end and I was certainly thrilled that people considered me as a source of their holiday gifts. But, I will reconsider next year about how I advertise and cut-off custom work as well as whether or not I will repaint images for customers.

March 27, 2004, 12" x 16", Oil Pastel on Arches, © 2007 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

Now I'm rushing to get out my much-needed holiday cards since I see the as a very important aspect of keeping in touch with my clients. There's nothing quite like receiving a piece of mail in today's world of virtual everything. Below is the image I'm using for my cards. I'm making limited edition giclée cards so people can frame them after they receive them. I painted this tile a few days before my open studio event and it sold instantly. I think it makes a wonderful image for a holiday card due to its wintry, yet brilliant colors.

Dogwood Winter, 8" x 8", Ceramic Paint on Tile, © 2007 Jennie Traill Schaeffer. Private Collection.

A Contest!

For my blog post today, in correlation with my email mailing on Wednesdays, I am creating a contest to give You, admirer of my art, an opportunity to win a 30% reduction of a single artwork purchased between now and December 31st, 2007. Read on art lover.

Look at the artwork below, read the question and email me the answer through the link below. You have until Thursday, August 16th at midnight to respond with the correct answer. The first correct response wins the 30% reduction certificate. To find out if you won, go to my blog (www.traillworks.blogspot.com) on Friday, August 17th.


And The Artwork Please . . .

Enthroned Wedding Cake, Oil on Panel, 12" x 16", ©2007 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

And the Question is. . .

• What is the significance of the gold shapes in the background flanking the wedding cake?

Email your answer here.

Fine Art as Wedding Gift

Cones for Erica & Adam, 12" x 16", Oil on Mounted Canvas Paper, © 2007

Why not commission or purchase art as a wedding gift?

Artwork has the potential to be a very unique and memorable gift. As the wedding season is in full-swing consider giving the gift of art. Especially with many of today's couples getting married at an older age and having lived together as a couple, traditional gifts to stock up the house may not be necessary. This is a great alternative.

I've been painting some larger oil paintings for close friends and family as they get married and it is always a treasured gift. The above painting was completed last month and is six-months overdue for my sister-in-law who was married in December. Lee, my husband, built the frame. He does this only for very special gifts since he does have a full time job.

If you know the couple, commissioning a work could be a great approach. You could have the artist depict a scene from the locale of the couple's honeymoon, the locale of the destination wedding, a portrait of their new home. Or if you'd like to commemorate something from the wedding, a painting of the couple's wedding cake is a terrific idea. If you're interested in commissioning a painting, be aware that an artist may need about six weeks lead time to complete the work and get it to you.

Wedding Day III, 8" x 8", Oil on Panel, ©2006 - the Artist's wedding cake topper

Or, if you want to purchase a "ready-made" artwork, there are numerous small galleries and boutique shops all over the country where art is priced reasonably for a meaningful wedding gift. To find a gallery in your area, search the Gallery Guide's web site. Art at the Mill in Lafayette, NJ is a great gallery with affordable art and the Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, PA is a fabulous boutique that even has their own wedding registry. Many artists make work that ranges in price so be certain if you like an artist's work but can't afford what you see to inquire further about other available pieces.

The idea for Erica and Adam's painting stemmed from their registry. They requested an ice cream maker on their list and the Goldberg family is known for their love of ice cream. As an engagement gift we bought them a waffle cone maker and cone stand to extend the theme. Naturally the painting of ice cream followed as the wedding gift.

Happy wedding season!

Contact Jennie if you'd like to discuss purchasing or commissioning a unique gift for your next wedding.