With the threat of climate change an ever-present subject of every where, it's refreshing to see an artist making the most of her creativity while also ensuring every scrap of food is given a purpose outside of the rubbish bin.
My parents always used to tell me off for playing with my food but it seems like you’ve taken that and turned it into an art form. Growing up I was frequently reminded 'don't play with your food', but I was also encouraged to admire, appreciate, and enjoy my food. My father loves cooking and he would often create beautiful and creative dishes using healthy, fresh ingredients. He always had a vision of how the food would look when it made it to the table; he'd call it "painting". The appreciation for food and art that I developed as a child has grown with me and it really came out in university when I started cooking for myself.
So then how did an interest in food and art evolve to become your blog 'Culinary Canvas'? The journey with 'Food Art' began about three years ago during a dinner event at University. I was cooking for a few of my friends (spaghetti carbonara) when I started playing around with the leftover bits of food on my plate, eventually manipulating them into a tree - the 'spaghettree'. I uploaded my creation to and it got a really great response so I decided to start experimenting a bit and seeing what else I could create. From there the combination of food and art became a fun part of my culinary experiences and a way for me to channel my creativity by combining it with my love for food and photography. At first I only uploaded the pictures to Facebook to share with my friends and family but eventually developed my photo-blog, Culinary Canvas as a creative outlet for sharing my art with others. I chose the name 'Culinary Canvas' based on the analogy to painting and a reference to the way I create art on a blank, white plate (my canvas) using fresh, healthy and colourful foods.
I know people who won’t throw a single scrap of food out no matter what, is that the sort of person you are? To some degree maybe but to be honest, there’s usually not much left over to throw out! I do tend to keep the parts that would normally be thrown out anyway such as peels, pitts and rinds because those are a big part of what I use to create my art - at any given time I tend to have a Tupperware container in the fridge filled with lots of bits and pieces.
What foods work best with your food scrap art? Colourful fresh fruit and veg that’s easy to cut and shape. Nothing too soft (like avocado) or too juicy because then it just makes a mess on the plate. That being said, I love using avocado skin because it has a really interesting texture. Some of my favourite things are fruits or veg that have very different exterior to interior such as aubergine, squash or watermelon because then it’s like a two-for-one!
Does that mean your artwork is also seasonal? My artwork is definitely seasonal. You’ll see plenty of things like squash and root veg in the fall/winter when I’m doing more hearty dishes and then things like watermelon, strawberries and bright, summery fruits the rest of the year. I also have a rule that I’ll only every use scraps from food I cook with and like/enjoy eating. I’d never buy something for the sake of it. For example, I’ve never used green pepper (even though the colour is great) or onion because I’m really not a fan of either!
Where do you source the scraps from? Are they purely from your household waste or do you have a secret food scrap stash coming in from restaurants? My scraps come entirely from the foods I buy for myself day-to-day!
A new way to have food on your picnic. Source: Culinary Canvas
Lots of time with viral food art you get backlash from people saying “THIS IS A WASTE OF FOOD” but is it fair to say you’ve avoided that? While I have (for the most part) been incredibly lucky with the amount of positive feedback and support I’ve had, I have definitely received some of those comments before – which is funny because it couldn’t be further from the truth! A hugely important and differentiating part of what I do is the purposeful use of inedible parts of food that we normally DON'T eat such as fruit peels or rinds. Similarly, the times that I do use perfectly fresh fruits or veg, such as blueberries, then I always 100% eat them afterwards.
A hugely important and differentiating part of what I do is the purposeful use of inedible parts of food that we normally DON'T eat such as fruit peels or rinds. Similarly, the times that I do use perfectly fresh fruits or veg, such as blueberries, then I always 100% eat them afterwards.
Another thing to consider is that due to the level of detail in many of my pieces, I’m able to actually create lots of shapes out of the tiniest scrap of food. For example, my flowers are created from miniscule pieces of fruit or veg – so there is never any waste. I make sure of that!
Can you tell me about how you put it all together? So it can go one of two ways: I either have a specific idea in mind for something I want to create, such as a holiday piece, or alternatively, it will be a matter of looking in my fridge, seeing what there is and then seeking inspiration from that. Regardless, much of what I create is inspired by my favourite things (nature, animals, holidays, travel…) and the foods I like to eat, so creating the pieces usually depends on the season and my experiences at any given time.
The process itself is fairly simple. I don’t use any fancy tools or anything to make the food stick together (sometimes people think they’re glued on!), I just use a small knife to carefully create the desired shapes – or I’ll just work around the natural shape of the fruit or vegetable itself – and then from there I just use my hands to very delicately assemble the pieces into the image. Once I have the pieces how I envisioned them on the plate, then I simply take the picture on a table in natural light, against a white foam board. The entire process usually ranges from 45 minutes to a couple of hours depending on the level of detail involved.
Wildflowers - kiwi, blueberry, lemon, raspberry, apricot, basil and thyme. Source: Culinary Canvas
Robin - mushroom, sweet potato and chive. Source: Culinary Canvas
From there I either eat the edible bits afterwards, use them later for cooking, or alternatively I'll put the bits back in the fridge to maybe be re-purposed for another piece later on!
So you’re a food artist AND also a food photographer then for your various social media. There’s got to be a skill behind food photography too, right? Definitely! While I love food art I am very passionate about photography! There’s certainly a lot of skill and factors involved in capturing the pieces once they’re created but that’s half the fun! My skills have really developed since I’ve started and I think it’s something that maybe differentiates me a bit from other food artists in the sense that I place as much, if not more, emphasis on the photography element than the actual plating and creation of the piece itself. Culinary Canvas may have began as a more ‘food art’ artistic expression but I think over time it has truly become just as much of a photography project as well.
Have you had any interest from people requesting a certain object, animal or place they’d like you see put together? Not very often actually! I have in the past received suggestions for pieces but that is fairly infrequent. I think maybe people like waiting to see what comes up next! People certainly enjoy guessing what each piece is made from though!
You’ve got a Halloween and Remembrance Day inspired additions to the collection, is this something you think you will continue going forward? Any hints on what’s next? Yes definitely, I get really inspired by upcoming events or holidays and it’s also great for social media engagement. Hmmm… I’m not sure what the next will be but I know the first day of summer isn’t too far off. There’s also Canada Day in July (which is where I’m originally from), so maybe something around that!
You’ve just passed 10k followers on Instagram (), what’s on the cards for the future of Culinary Canvas? Are we going to see the release of a how-to “cook” book or perhaps an exhibition with you photographs? I know, it’s so exciting!!! To be honest right now my plans are to just keep on creating pieces that inspire others and myself. That being said I would certainly love to create a book later on down the road. A photo exhibition would be amazing as well! Both are very appealing to me as I’d also like to now take on more opportunities that involve using and highlighting the pieces I have already created.
Finally, taking inspiration from your artwork, what’s your favourite leftovers meal to eat? Hmmm … considering it’s pretty much all fresh or expiring fruit and veg the typical things I’d be doing is loading it all into the blender for a breakfast smoothie or if it’s something like squash, aubergine or peppers then I love roasting it and adding it into different seasonal salads.
Fringe Foodies Editor Mikey Nicholson
In our monthly blog, , we interview creatives, artists, designers, writers and poets about their affinity with all things edible. From the printed page to sculptures and soundwaves, we discover the myriad ways food can be created, celebrated and consumed.
