WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR YOUR DESIGNS ? Mostly Geometry and building materials . I absolutely love concrete . I like maths- I am a draftsman so geometry is 90 % of what I do . And I love the colour of the sky on big mean stormy afternoons . I love using words like “ brooding ” and “ moody ” to describe cakes . I like textures and rough edges . When I was in college , I had the option to choose between woodwork and metal work as my senior elective . I chose to complete a cert 4 in metal fabrication because I loved how rough it was- beating things into shape , welding things together , angle grinding things and it all resulted in stunning finished pieces . I considered that I didn ’ t have the finesse , patience or gentle hand that woodwork needed , and I find that ’ s translated directly into my cakes . If I make something dark , and textured and having rough edges I am almost always so much happier with the end result than making sweet little perfect Disney princess cakes . Secondary to that , I really enjoy art and I am always thinking of ways I can use colour , sculpting , unusual techniques and edible images in my work . Periodically I ’ ll make what I call “ Mondrian Cookies ”, as a tribute to Piet Mondrian- one of my favourite artists . They ’ re incredibly time consuming though , so I don ’ t make them often !
ANY ADVICE FOR ANYONE THINKING OF STARTING A BAKING BUSINESS ? It ’ s absolutely incredible the amount of self limiting beliefs that will pop up in that first 6-12 months . Ensure sure you have a counter argument for every single one of them . My self limiting beliefs were mostly around my beginner skill set , so I took classes with Rosie at Inspire , Bake , Create and improved my skills and my confidence . When I would tell myself that people would hate my cooking and complain and the bad feedback would ruin my reputation I told myself to shut up because my cooking is delicious and I get told my cooking is delicious all the time , so I made a cake for my work morning tea and got other ’ s opinions . Self limiting beliefs are like cracks in a dam wall , if you don ’ t patch the walls up your creativity , inspiration and motivation will literally disappear overnight .