By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio pastry chef Andrea Gomez went “down the rabbit hole” and returned with a wonderland of confectionary creations.
Dozens of Gomez’s wildly whimsical treats were on display for sale and sampling during the Del Rio Council for the Arts “Down the Rabbit Hole” show of edible art at the Firehouse gallery on Friday, part of First Friday Art Walk.
Gallery-goers were treated to the sight of an upside-down multi-tiered cake hanging from the ceiling, a four-foot-tall toadstool sheet cake and a chocolate sculpture of Alice’s iconic White Rabbit, complete with pocket watch, as they entered the gallery.
Near the back of the gallery, Gomez, owner of the Sleeping Lady Bakery, and her small army of assistants had set up a table fairly groaning with trays of tony pastries for sale, including a tower of tiny pâte a choux, colorful macarons, fudgy brownies, carrot-shaped meringues and a dizzying array of cookies.
“This is an edible art show that is a fundraiser for me to have a storefront, and it’s also a celebration of my second year in business. The inspiration, really, was ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ and also, I own a lot of antiques and decided to use them as décor and I really wanted to push myself,” Gomez said of the show.
Gomez said she was able to offer much more variety than she did last year because she had more help and more money.
“That meant I was able to invest in different techniques,” Gomez said.
As an example, she pointed to the large “Queen of Hearts” sugar sculpture on display in the Firehouse small side gallery.
“This (sculpture) cost a lot because of the technique and the equipment needed to create it, so I was able to invest in a little bit of it, and in equipment that I can use in the future when I have the bakery. I would love to continue making sugar pieces to display for everybody, so you could come into the bakery and see a different art piece made of sugar every month,” Gomez said.
The White Rabbit sculpture, she added, includes about $300 worth of chocolate.
Gomez said she was very gratified by Friday night’s turnout at the Firehouse and the number of her friends who helped promote the show on their social media pages.
“It’s awe-inspiring, to tell you the truth. It’s insane to see how many people love what I create, and it may sound weird, but that’s all I’ve ever wanted in life, is for the dreams in my head to come out, and this show, it’s what’s in my head,” she said.
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Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
