Here's to all about Fruita.: Fruita Art Camp Rocks

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Fruita Art Camp Rocks

Karen Roberts, chief cake decorator for Fruita City Market, shared her time and her expertise with Fruita Art Campers, Thursday, June 21.
Campers have been studying the art of Wayne Thiebaud, who became famous for his lucsious paintings of cakes, carmel apples, and other goodies.
All eyes were on Roberts as she connected so many subjects she studied to making art her career. Graduating from Fort Lewis, where she studied to become an art teacher, Roberts worked part time at the City Market in Durango. She had the good luck to work with as she said, " a master cake decorator who had learned his trade at a prestigious culinary school back east. She learned from him, graduated and never taught but instead has made a career of decorating for City Market for the past nearly 38 years.

What was so great about her talk was the fact that she stressed things students should be learning in school, namely good handwriting for one.
"You can have the lovilest cake, but if your handwriting is not really good, the cake won't look good either," she said.
Roberts told the campers that she also studied drafting while in college, another subject which has helped her work.
"You have to know about area, about how to divide a cake to feed whatever number of people it is ordered to serve," she said. "You never know what some special order may require you to draw, buildings, animals or whatever."
She told the audience that math is very important to learn because her work involves figuring the cost, the price, dealing with fractions, proportions and more.

Roberts pointed out that one of the most important factors in becoming good and staying good at a career is practice, practice, practice. She practices making contour drawings every day.

"This keeps my drawing skills really sharp," she said.

Knowing color theory, how to use an airbrush and other special equipment is crucial, she pointed out as she demonstrated the various nibs or points she uses to make decorations on pastery items.