"As a child I was amazed by the incredible and intricate Royal icing cake decorations made by my Grandfather, and although styles have evolved towards the simpler forms and soft contours of sugar paste, the skills and ideas of those trained in Royal icing are still the cornerstones of cake decorating as it is today. I have been fortunate enough to learn from both Eddie Spence MBE; whose ability to produce the most exquisite forms in Royal icing surpasses anything imaginable; and Paddi Clark, who has inspired and encouraged me from my earliest ventures into 'professional' cake decorating to the present day.
I have a Master's degree in Fine Art from the University of Oxford, where I specialised in painting. I also have a Music Masters degree from Reading University where I studied another life-long passion: the piano. I took up jewellery making as a hobby have made several items to commission. The concepts of design and proportion are fundamental to all of these disciplines and undoubtedly influence the way I think about cakes. As well as being wonderful food offerings, wedding cakes in particular are both sculptural and decorative, giving the cake maker real artistic scope - as can be seen in the very many different styles of wedding cakes made today.
