GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

SECTION B

AUGUST 19, 1994

Evenings Out

A sampling of the artistry of cake sculptor Roland Winbeckler.

Top: Every princess needs a stand-in. Center: The late Colonel Sanders wondered if he had been separated at birth.

Bottom: A turkey dinner and all the fixings without the messy nutritional benefits.

And eating it too? Not!

The 19th Annual ICES convention and show

by Charlton Harper

Have you been pondering that nagging, empty space, just above your couch, that's crying out for art?

Well forget about Elvis on velvet. That thrift store look is out. The cutting edge collector wants Elvis in cocoa.

During the weekend of August 20-21 you just might spot Elvis in cocoa, or maybe icing, at the 19th annual ICES (International Cake Exploration Societe) show and convention at the Hyatt Regency Ohio Center in Columbus.

Cake decorators, icing sculptors and dessert fanciers from around the world will be on hand with more than 1,100 cakes on display.

Sure, you might want to nibble Princess Di's ear, but cut your sweet tooth somewhere else. Though everything must be reproducible in cake, most of what's on view is crafted from royal icing and Styrofoam. Think of royal icing as 100 percent sugar, without the messy nutritional value of ordinary butter cream icing. More importantly, it hardens like cement.

The show demonstrates just how far a person can go with some basic tools, a little imagination and lots of royal icing. More than one skeptical head will surely spin in amazement at the life-like effects achieved by cake sculptor Roland Winbeckler. Look for his full-scale replica of Christopher Columbus in the Hyatt lobby. In addition, you'll find gum paste artists that can create bouquets of flowers as delicate and refined as anything at your local florist. There's also the latest in wedding cake technology, internationally-published cake book authors, and plenty of demonstrations.

Dale Crandall, a co-owner of Cleveland's Patisserie Baroque and a member of ICES, says to look for the wide variety in decorating styles from around the world. "Each country seems to develop its own style," he explains. "For instance, the Japanese do a lot of Oriental string work, where you create these very thin string effects with the icing coming off the cake, into the air, and coming down on the other side. Mexico is different from the U.S. They seem to use a lot of gum paste. It's usually a bit thicker than what we see here."

Laugh if you will at the thought of serious art born in the kitchen. But sugar art sees its share of the same driving issues that confront the world of "serious" art. Crandall remembers a particular work that raised the problem of sugar censorship. "Well, there was this piece called Road Kill," he says, "and you can imagine what that was like. It had a 'possum, or something, that had been flattened by a tire, with cuts all over it. And everything was made out of icing. Splattered guts were everywhere," he laughs. "It turned out that there were a couple complaints and it got removed from the show. Now, we say we're sugar artists. So how can you censor someone's art? If we argue about freedom of expression in other arts, then we have to look at sugar art in the same way."

This year, thanks to his initiative, the ICES convention will donate a portion of its door proceeds to the Columbus AIDS Task Force. For Crandall, serving up sugar

art while also giving back to the community is like the icing on the cake. "I never started out heading towards giving money to an AIDS group. I asked for submissions from 100 charities in Columbus... and I looked at all the information I got back and wrote a 40-page report on why it should go to CATE. I presented it at the Richmond show last year, and they [embraced it] 100 percent. Now I'm determined to get as many people through the door as possible. The more people. the more money we donate. It's kind of like helping my own people."

Now that's having your cake and eating it too.

The ICES show runs August 20 and 21 at the Hyatt Regency at the Ohio Center, Columbus. Show times are 10:00 am to Admission is $5.00.