THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Padma Renjith, 57, has been exploring the world of flowers with colours. Roses, carnations and orchids bloom for eternity as Padma creates them in ceramic. These ceramic wonders came alive recently as part of an exhibition. However, Padma’s artistry is not limited to ceramics, she also crafts edible flowers. These sugar flowers are mostly used to decorate icing cakes.
The passionate cook was a homemaker in Dubai during the 90s. Her love for cooking made her bake cakes and pastries for her family and friends. “I first saw cermaic flowers in Dubai. They were by craft teacher, Poornima Subramaniam. She inspired me to learn the art. In 2013, I returned to Thiruvananthapuram, and to date I have been making and teaching the art to others in the city,” she says.
The details make it seem like every petal is real. The craft teacher also owns a bakehouse in the city, Buttertown. According to Padma, this art requires a lot of dedication, patience and concentration. “It is time-consuming. That makes people reluctant. I use mainly icing sugar for sugar flowers and imported ceramic powder for ceramic ones. The dough is later flattened and made into petals using fingers,” she says.
Padma is particular about the materials used for her craft, as precision is achived only with quality materials. “The work involves several steps like mixing different materials, moulding shapes, steaming etc. And in all stages, we use specialised tools,” she says.
She made roses using flexible sugar flowers for the exhibition. Unlike normal sugar flowers, the petals of these are flexible, giving them a realistic look. The major difference comes in mixing. “I learnt the new technique two months ago from a craft teacher who is settled in Malaysia,” she adds.
The baker-turned-artists debut exhibition showcased around 60 of these floral varieties. “I was busy managing the shop and teaching. But now my husband and daughter are managing the shop. I’m planning to organise more such exhibitions in the future,” she adds.