Cake Cake Stands

13 September 2010

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As a lover of cake (as influence as well as treat), it makes sense that I would make cake stands. Several years ago, I did make a couple, but lost interest (and apparently didn’t even photograph them). However! My new venture into polka dots and stripes in general, and stripe-y plates specifically, has gotten me jazzed to wrap ribbons of striped color down and around to accentuate this fun form. Above are two recently completed cake stands I photographed from various angles. Both are about 4″ h x 10″ diameter (able to display an 8 & 9″ cake respectively) with glossy tops and satin-glazed sides.

This summer, I finally got around to making a more substantial cake display form based on my drawings and metal-working influence. I am humorously referring to it as a “cake throne”. At some point, I hope to post a pic after the glaze fire, as well as make more. Pictured: Cake Throne detail at leatherhard

It seemed fun and appropriate to share some other cake stands (with and without cakes, functional and not) in this post, kind of a sideways follow-up of favorites to my Cake as Influence post. I sometimes use the word “cake” as an adjective to mean “great,” “lucky” or “awesome”. So, below is a range of very *cake* cake stands (and other peripherally related images) I found in my searches, yielding a range of handmade to manufactured, new to vintage and ceramic to, well, oil. Enjoy!

Lazy Daisy skirts by Made with Love By Hannah

If you hover your cursor over the pics above, you can get most of the info below too. From top left: Vintage glass cake stands with cakes; Esther Coombs’ 3-tier Rose Cake Stand, EstherCoombs on Etsy; and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel dress paired with wedding cakes, Trend de la Creme blog post; Second row: Blaue Blume cake stand by Tina Tsang; The Husband Catcher Cake, oil painting by Janet Hill; and Art Deco cake stencil wrapper from Fancy Flours; Third row: Silver cake stand;and Maren Kloppmann’s Ledge Platter; Fourth row: Whitney Smith’s Bird Cupcake Stand, WhitneySmith on Etsy; Lemon cake with blue icing and dots, Country Living photo shoot; and Iacolli & Mcalllister cake stands on Big Cartel; Fifth row: Kari Radasch’s cake stand with confetti cake, Redware on Etsy; Lazy Daisy skirts by Made With Love By Hannah (cake stands have skirts, and these are super cute!); and w2products Willow cake stand; Sixth row: Jeanette Zeis’ Lace cake plate, vesselsandwares on Etsy; 4 Layer Cake, oil painting by Paul Ferney; and antique three-tier cake stand; Seventh row: reproduction of 1930s-era glass cake stand; D’lovely cake stand, fergusonpottery on Etsy; and Elle cake stand by Clara French; Last row: cake stand from The Tea Pot Shoppe; striped cake by The Yummy Cake Company; and Black Lace Cake Stand from the MoMA store.

Ceramics I Love (Contemporary, Pt. II)

21 December 2009

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From top left, First row: Bobby Silverman, Gertraud Möhwald, and Magdelene Odundo; Second row: Hans Coper, Viola Frey, Sam Chung and Gary DiPasquale; Third row: Andrea Gill, Jeanne Quinn, and Mary Barringer; Last row: Jason Green and Alan Caiger-Smith.

Visit Part I here to see not only the first grouping but also what I mean by “love” (vs. influence). I enjoy putting these love montages together and hope to do one every so often. I welcome you to leave a list of your all-time favorite contemporary clay artists in the comment section.

Ceramics I Love (Contemporary, Pt. I)

21 November 2008

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From top left, First row: Ron Nagle, Cindy Kolodziejski, Scott Rench, Brad Schwieger and Michael Lucero. Second row: Kathy Butterly, Leopold Foulem and Maren Kloppmann. Last row: Andrew Martin, Kathryn Finnerty and Michael Sherrill. Not pictured: Adrian Saxe.

This could also be titled, “Ceramics I Want to Own”. This is a different category from the Influence series I add to periodically (click “Influences” in the right column under “Search Past Posts by Category”). When I teach workshops and sometimes via email, I am asked about my “favorite ceramic artists”. This grouping features some of my all time favs.

I don’t consider the work of the artists pictured above —and the next couple of groupings I hope to add in future posts— influences. It’s hard to define, but I differentiate between “favorites” and “influences”. The pictured works are vessels, wall pieces and sculptures I enjoy, appreciate and just plain love (like I want them in my house, love) by artists I respect. Sometimes we like things specifically because they are different from what we make (do, or wear).

When I teach workshops and speak to my students about influences, I try to explain my realization from years ago when I learned to buy work I appreciate rather than attempt working in a style that doesn’t suit my personality. I like “minimal”, but don’t make it, so I buy Maren’s. Of course there is overlap, but generally I buy (or covet) favorites; I research and absorb influences.

I am fortunate to own work by four of the eleven pictured by purchase, trade or gift.