COST: $275/day; $775/3 days ($50 savings)
Italian sugar artist Claudia Prati will teach “Materika,” her technique of 3D palette-knife royal-icing painting. Students will have the opportunity to create four individual cakes of poppies, peonies, sunflowers, and hydrangeas.
Day 1 AM: (Skill level: Beginner) Create a poppy cake. Introduction to the Materika technique. Paint cake background; learn to create petals with a palette knife. Draw all flowers on cake with a 3D effect; finish with painting.
Day 1 PM: (Skill level: Beginner) Create a peony cake. Paint cake background; sketch flowers freehand; learn to create light and dark effects with palette knife; finish with painting.
Day 2: (Skill level: Intermediate. Prerequisite: Day 1 class.) Create a sunflower cake. Paint the cake background with a spatula; sketch the sunflowers freehand; create 3D flower petals with a spatula; finish with painting.
Day 3: (Prerequisite: Previous experience with royal icing; some painting skills.) Create a hydrangea cake. Paint the cake background; freehand sketch the hydrangea petals and leaves; paint the flower using a relief effect with royal-icing brush embroidery; finish with dust painting.
Day 1 and Day 3 may be taken as stand-alone classes; Day 2 must be preceded by Day 1.
Class size is limited, so book early!
Class will run from 9:00AM to 5:00PM daily, April 24-26, 2018 (Tuesday through Thursday), in the Promenade Room of the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Edgewater, NJ. All materials will be provided. Light breakfast options, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and beverages throughout the day are also included.
Students may book guest rooms directly with the Homewood Suites by accessing the hotel's personalized group web page at http://homewoodsuites.hilton.com/en/hw/groups/personalized/E/EWREWHW-SO2-20180423/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG. Blocks of king and two-bed queen suites at special rates have been reserved for students and will be available for booking through this link until April 2, 2018.
The Homewood Suites in Edgewater is conveniently located on the shores of the Hudson River directly across from upper Manhattan, and is easily accessible via the George Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel, public bus transportation, or NY Waterways ferry (hotel offers complementary shuttle service to and from the ferry terminal).
The hotel is located in an upscale modern commercial development with many shops, restaurants, and entertainment options just footsteps away. Parking is complementary.
Claudia Prati started working as a sugar artist in 2010, becoming part of the birth of the cake design trend in Italy.
In 2012 she opened the “Claudia Prati Academy” near Milan and had the opportunity to plan classes with the most talented Italian artists like Mary Torte, La Belle Aurore, Silvia Mancini, Tommaso Bottalico, Laura Saporiti, Kristina Rado, and Barbara Regini.
She also took classes with several royal icing artist such as Eddie Spence, Kathleen Lange and Kelvin Chua.
In 2013 Claudia was contacted by the national television (RAI) and joined the team of tutors on the program “Detto Fatto,” broadcast on RAI 2, where she recorded 18 episodes.
Meanwhile, Claudia pursued the dream of writing a book about royal icing, as there was nothing similar in Italy. In 2014 she partnered with Chiriotti Editori and after more than a year of studies on the history and origin of royal icing, she published the “Manuale della ghiaccia reale.” The book was awarded “Best 2015 Book” during the Cake Design Italian Festival Milan. One year later, during the same show, Claudia was awarded the “Best Royal Icing Artist” prize.
In 2015 she entered the “Cake International” competition in Birmingham, England and won the first gold of the “International” category with a Venice-inspired cake made with royal icing and modeling. She won a gold in 2016 at Cake International Birmingham in the “Christmas” category with a blue-and-white royal-icing lace cake called “Silent Night.”
Claudia has served as a judge in many Italian cake decorating competitions, including “Glamour Italian Cakes” at the Sigep Rimini Trade Show.
In 2017, by experimenting with the palette knife, Claudia created “Materika,” a personal technique that utilizes a spatula, royal icing/buttercream, and painting. Flowers are a perfect subject to utilize this technique.