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Woman Turns Confections into Art |
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Left Picture by RON KARAFIN/Courier-Post, Donna Horn, a confectionery artist, paints a giraffe made of her invention, Wafer Mâché®, with edible paint. |
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Tuesday, August 5, 2003, A series on 'Good Hands.', By CHERYL SQUADRITO MOSKOVITZ Courier-Post Staff |
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Don't call Donna Horn a baker. |
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She's a confectionary artist. |
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This Marlton resident has created cakes that look like photographs, blackjack tables, Raggedy Ann dolls, ships, hot air balloons, and even life-sized NASA astronauts. She has prepared sweets for newsmakers, celebrities (like Oprah, Rosie O'Donnell, David Letterman, Regis, Kenny Rogers, and David Copperfield), and even presidents. |
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A petite, left-handed woman with tiny fingers, Horn creates goodies that look too good to eat. |
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She patented a process called Wafer Mâché®, that turns sheets of wafers into three-dimensional edible art. It was this technique she used to create an 8-foot, 1000-pound cake celebrating the presidential inauguration of the elder George Bush in 1989. |
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Two curators from the Smithsonian Institution duked it out over which museum would install a replica of the inaugural cake; the Museum of American History won. |
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But that cake nearly ended Horn's career. Long hours on the project inflamed the carpal tunnel in her left wrist. |
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Hand surgery was inevitable. After months of physical therapy, she returned to the kitchen. |
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'The surgery made me realize that I was very foolish and that you have to guard your hands because they are the tools you need in life,' says Horn. |
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Now, while making her masterpieces, she stretches and takes breaks. At home, she regularly dips her hands in soothing paraffin wax baths. |
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Horn also performs magic for children in hospitals and teaches English as a second language. |
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She learned from her grandmother how to make treats like cinnamon buns and doughnuts. Over the summer, Horn created a special cake for her daughter's baby shower - a copy of a quilt she had made for her new granddaughter Sarah, born last month. |
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Donna Horn is a charter member KIDabra International, the Society of American Magicians, the Magicians Alliance of Eastern States, and the International Brotherhood of Magicians. |
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Master Diploma, Wilton's School of Cake Decorating and Confectionery Art in Chicago, Illinois |
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Fellow, The Sugarcraft Directory International (SDI) |
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Member and Demonstrator, International Cake Exploration Societé (ICES) |
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Member, Graphic Artists' Guild |
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Member, International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) |
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Graduated magna cum laude Rutgers University |
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Higginson-Dorr Award for Outstanding Teacher of Year 1971 |
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Recipient, Shining Star in Literacy Award, Literacy Volunteers of America (LVA), 1992 |
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Awarded Outstanding English as a Second Language Tutor of the Year 1993 and 1996, Literacy Volunteers of America |
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Recipient, Dale Carnegie’s “Highest Award of Achievement,” 1996 and 1998 |
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Please Contact:
Donna Horn
16 Elmgate Road
Marlton, NJ 08053
856-983-5360
Domain: Wafer Maché
Email: DonnaMagic@comcast.net
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