Marjorie's Baking and Artistry

Marjorie’s Baking and Art Exploits

           This blog is focused on travel: my trip journals & accompanying photos. So how does Marjorie’s baking fit in? Well, it’s my blog, so I guess I can do whatever I want. Here I'll offer examples of Marjorie's beautiful (and tasty!) baking and other artistic efforts.

Baking

             Marjorie’s baking has entailed a considerable variety of themes, occasions & events, & holidays; and her yummy concoctions have been created for family, friends & neighbors, and friends of friends. Plus she prides herself, and rightly so, on creations that both look beautiful and taste good. I can’t show the “taste good” part here, but the photos that follow surely indicate how beautiful they are. The photos are organized into 3 sections: 1) weddings, 2) birthdays, and 3) other occasions & holidays.

Weddings: 

       

        Wedding cakes are an especially artistic specialty. Particular favorites have celebrated weddings of our son Matt & Anthea 

and niece Annie & Garrick: the baker at work & finished product

and note the “groom’s cake” reflecting Garrick’s outdoorsy pursuits ... and an earlier kiwi-themed groom’s cake created for New Zealander Miles, marrying Julie.

Other "friendly" cakes for Teralynn & Rich and CN & Miliane. 

A Halloween wedding was a particular favorite: Marjorie decorated in the spirit of the day, with cobwebs, spiders & a rat (munching on the cake!), and skeletal figures. And bride & groom and guests were in costumes. 

Pretty creepy! 

Other cakes have been sited in some classic venues, including the Canfield Casino & Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga.

And a sampling of others:

  

 

 

 

Birthdays: 

          Birthday cakes are another specialty, beginning with our little boy Matt 

and later his boys, grandsons William & Miles.

Lots of other cakes: for my Mom,

for grand-niece Abigail (along with other tasty party decorations),

for friends Theresa & Glenn's triplets Sally, Char, & Johnny,

 











and plenty of others with many different themes.

Other baking:

          Marjorie has had helpers & participants in her baking efforts: our cat Hobbles, 

grandsons William & Miles,

triplets Sally, Char, & Johnny making Christmas cookies,

 

& coworkers making Valentine’s Day treats.

There's been lots of holiday baking: Christmas 

and Easter.

Baking for open houses for jeweler/silversmith Theresa, 

a choir fundraiser, 

and a dessert party for the Empire State Youth Orchestra.

Plus a variety of other occasions: retirements, job changes, and congrats on good work,

graduations,

baptisms 

& anniversaries.
















Art

            Marjorie’s artistic efforts were triggered when she worked on a TV art auction fundraiser for WMHT, the local PBS station. She solicited donations from local artists, which in turn led her to some early mentors, Betty Bumgarner and Elaine Pospisol. Her early work was mostly in watercolors, doing her own framing using frames from resale shops.  

 

 

She had what I referred to as her “Pear Period.” 

That was followed by a variety of collages or assemblages, often incorporating pieces taken from old watches and other materials.

She expanded her efforts with "alcohol ink"

and her beautiful greeting cards became a specialty. 

She branched into Christmas ornaments and decorations, including magnets.

Her work has been displayed in a variety of local shows, and she has won a number of ribbons.

She has also taught classes on such things as home-made greeting cards and alcohol ink, 

and organized and taught in a summer art program for 4^th-6^th graders for the Colonie Art League.

We've sometimes exhibited together, here at St. Pius: my photography, her alcohol ink creations. I sold more than she did!