Brittany Earle, head baker and owner of Britt’s Artistry

Born and raised Texan Brittany Earle has had a passion for EVERYTHING art since middle school. It all began with making sculptures and watercolors and since then she has graduated to edible art, upcycling furniture and accessories, cake decorating classes and much more.

After working in the dentistry field for years as a consultant, and baking like crazy on the weekends, Earle finally decided to take the entrepreneurial leap. In 2013, she founded Britt’s Artistry that sells edible art including cakes, cupcakes, and cake pops. In addition to selling her one of kind cakes, Brittany also sells her original paintings and upcycle/DIY furniture and accessories. She also hosts pop up shops, cake decorating classes and art classes at her family-owned studio in Texas.

Read more about Brittany Earle in Episode 13 of People You Should Know.

1. Tell me about your family’s “Cupcake Wars” contest and how it fueled your passion for edible art?

I think it was around Christmas time. We had one of those cake war things and I started looking on YouTube for different tutorials on how to do things. So I was like, oh, this is easy. Art comes naturally to me, as far as like sculpting, which is how it evolved to me doing cakes. So I did that, and I started doing cakes for birthday parties and things like that. Then it became can you do my cake so I started doing cakes for my nieces, nephews, and cousins. And then it kind of turned into doing cakes on the weekend. So I would do that while I was working. Probably 3 or 4 years into doing the cakes, I had decide on what I wanted to do because it was taking away from my job. I can’t fully commit 100% to my job because I have my business that’s growing. So I just had to make a decision of do I step out? Do I do it? I gave myself like 3 months deadline to determine if it’s something that I was going to do. My friend Keisha really encouraged me too.

2. How difficult was it to leave your job and start Britt’s Artistry?

I still do consulting here and there, and I do temping whenever I need to with offices that need help and stuff like that, but my passion is art.

3. What helps you get into the zone to create art, rather it be on a blank canvas or cake?

I do listen to music. Music is a large inspiration when it comes to my paintings. A lot of it is inspired by different music. I do a lot of searching on social media, YouTube, and things like that and just combine a couple of different ideas. A lot of times I like to, for a wedding, see the entire flow of the wedding, not just what they want their cake to be like. I want to see the dress, decorations they’re using, the colors, where it’s going to be, and the theme of the wedding. All those things kind of come into play as far as how to design things. So there’s lots of different ways to draw from creativity.

4. Does creating cake designs come easy to you like it does when you’re painting?

Not always, and I think it’s because I’m partial to create something every weekend. One week I’ll have 5 orders. I use a lot of inspirational pictures, and a lot of people will send me pictures cakes and I don’t typically like to replicate the exact cake. A lot of times when I have so many cakes do I do get into this creative block where it’s very hard to create something. So inspirational pictures definitely help come into play because they kind of give you a base to go off of, but it’s definitely being creative on that aspect because you have to create so many different things every week. That can be straining. If I’m painting usually it takes a couple of hours or a couple of days to finish one piece because it’s larger or you’re adding things on to it, taking a break, and things like that. Whereas the cake, it’s like you have to boom, boom, boom knock it out, get it out of the way; next order, knock it out and get it out the way. So your creative juices can’t flow as easily, and as freely, when you’re in a time crunch or a client specifically wants this. So that is a challenge when it comes to creating the cakes.

5. What’s the most challenging edible art you’ve ever made and how did it turn out?

I don’t particularly like – and I actually stopped doing it – royal icing and cookies that have royal icing on them. I don’t know if you’ve seen cookie artists but they…it’s basically a cookie and they create whatever design they’re creating and images and all that but it’s all with royal icing. With me I’m like ok I can do that, I’ve watched a few video tutorials. I try, and I’m like wait a minute. The thing with that is that it’s a different type of ability that –if I practice I’m sure I could get it – but I just prefer not to and I’ve done a couple and they’ve come out horrible. They client loved them and I was thinking what are you looking at? I was just like I’m not doing this anymore. They’re tedious they take too long. It takes an hour, sometimes two hours to dry in between each stage and I don’t have that patience.

6. You look at your cakes to be edible art. When creating cake designs do you look at it as a blank canvas like you do when painting?

A lot of times I do because that’s what they pretty much start off as, at first, is white fondant or frosting. That’s why I say food is my medium when it comes to that. So with edible art my medium is food. I got plenty of tools to kind of go and create new things and of course the fondant. It all starts with one color, so I get to mix colors and make different creations. A lot of it is, and especially when I get to paint on a cake and I find that more fascinating because that’s my go to. So when I do get a blank white cake to start off and I can paint that’s always experience.

7. Upcycling furniture is another passion of yours that you offer through Britt’s Artistry. When did your passion for upcycling begin and how has it evolved?

It’s pretty much like everything that I’ve done in my business. It’s usually something that I do for myself and people see it and they’re like I want one of those. So I don’t know if you remember in college (we went to Oakwood University together) I used to cut jeans. It started out where I would do my own and people would say I want one of those. So pretty much that’s how it started with the cakes, but definitely with furniture because the furniture is more practical. So that’s usually what happens. When they see it they’re like oh I need a piece, or can you redo this, and then it transitioned into well let me add this as a service to the business.

8. You do painting, baking, and upcycling. Do you love one more than the other?

I will say, depending on how you look at it, financially I love the cakes more because that’s what catapulted my business out there and getting more people to recognize, of course, cakes and then artwork and upcycle and things like that. So the cakes are definitely the moneymakers, but my passion is art, as far as painting and things like that. The cakes have catapulted me out there to do more paintings and have more opportunities to get commissioned art pieces, or do the painting classes and things like that.

9. What are your goals for Britt’s Artistry for 2019?

For 2019, I would say increasing the painting aspect as far as getting prints and things like that. Also, to build our confidence up to do more weddings and do more wedding expos.

10. What do you love about being an artist?

It allows me to express my feelings or what I’m going through and I can release that energy, rather its negative or positive, while I’m working. So it allows me to escape whatever’s going on in my mind. I have anxiety really bad, so painting helps with that; cakes not so much. Sometimes cakes give me more anxiety and they give me anxiety to the point of when delivered, especially at weddings. I’m okay making it but when I deliver it or a client picks it up that’s when my anxiety kicks in and its like, ok are they going to like it?

It definitely helps with releasing those endorphins. I use it as therapy. It does make me happy so it does help with that.