This is my piece of the Festival of Lights collaboration organized by Candace Chand. When I was researching Diwali, pictures of diyas (small candles used for decoration and light) really spoke to me and inspired my design. There were so many different colorful images to use for inspiration for this festival, but I kept being drawn back to the feelings of warmth, hope and peace represented by the diya. The message of holding onto light in the darkness is a big part of my faith in my life, so I felt a personal connection to that beautiful imagery. I wanted to try to capture all of those feelings in the painting on my cake as well.
This, my friends, was my first painted cake. You’ve seen pictures of painted cakes that I’ve completed since this first one but this was the one that started it all. I spackled the cake with royal icing to try to give it a parchment paper texture and painted the picture of the hands and all of the background and shading with gel food colors. I was so scared to try this – never thinking of myself as a painter, but I had so much encouragement from Jon at JT Cakes – he was the reason this cake didn’t end up in the trash midway through! I’m so glad I listened to him, I love the way the painted hands turned out and have found a new love for painting on cakes – especially buttercream now! The pattern on the top tier was made with edible lace that I cut and pieced together into a henna design and topped with a red open gumpaste rose. I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful collaboration of so many amazingly talented and beautiful artists. So many new friendships formed over the months of working on our designs I hope will last for years to come. Hope you enjoy it and it inspires someone to try a technique that intimidates you – you might find a new love! xxShannon