9 pm central

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I felt really sorry for Stevie. I'd be angry, too, if someone invited me to a challenge when they knew for a fact that my style was one that the client would absolutely hate, and the client was a person I'd had past issues with...

I think it it is amazing she didn't quit, and I think it shows character that she finished the challenge instead of dropping out. Basically, Food Network invited her to participate because they were hoping Kerry would rip her apart. And of course, it worked out exactly that way.

Yes, her kitchen was a disaster. And after that show, maybe her business is, too. It's a shame they would invite someone for the sole purpose of being ridiculed and mocked... Just to "stir the pot" and boost ratings.

I don't see Stevie as the victim. It's a given that FN invited her to stir the pot. That said, she didn't have to go along with it. She could have accepted the challenge and put her work out there to be judged. Instead, she antagonized the mystery client, challenged her sense of fairness, dared her not to like her "work" and then told her that her requests weren't worth trying to fullfill. How long would anyone else last if they treated their clients that way?

Personally, I think she came in with a bad attitude. She didn't give a da** what kind of cake Kerry wanted. If I did that everyday for clients I would have no clients! I don't feel sorry for her at all. Not to mention that kitchen was so disgusting I could barley look at it...it physically made me sick. You can't blame that on Kerry. ugh!

I don't know what the problem is...........some people actually see beauty in a pile of excrement. I don't believe however after seeing this pile of excre um art...I could go to this Stevies webpage if I even could find it......sheesh

costumeczar--love your avatar.

As for Norm, I talked with him thru email a few weeks back and he is doing fine. It was best for him to walk away from the challenge and let Zane do it. You always have it in the back of your mind when you are not feeling well if this could be the start of something big.

He did not mention anything about closing "The Sweet Life".


As for Stevie's messy kitchen and eating anything out of it--We probably will never know if her real work kitchen is this messy. What goes on behind closed doors??? We have a really nice restaurant here--classy and popular. But my husband used to deliver vegetables and fruits there. Just let me say, he will NEVER eat there. He told me some of what he saw and I won't eat there either. So buying public, beware! What looks good on the outside, may not be the representational of what it goes thru to get there.

Maybe Stevie was channeling Jackson Pollock??

In the sense that Stevie is an artist first and simply uses food as her medium makes a completely different viewpoint for her and for the 'show' (and for those clever producers always working overtime to catch our attention) I do not know much about her and am fine with that but one of the first things she says is that she is an artist, which obviously means she's not a caker as she so aptly displays in each challenge.

Her piece did look better after the white washing of it--think of it as an industrial pearl dusting.

She did have a good 'save' with the strawberries.

I mean as cakers it is only reasonable to be horrified at her method. Which does glorify it a bit to describe it as a method, but she's entitled huh. But as an artist under time constraints, I get it.

Cakes22,
Don't insult Pollock. I used to be an elementary Art teacher and would impress upon my children that Pollock didn't just make a mess. A Pollock painting in person is impressive in heroic size and nuance of form, flow and color. If you have ever seen video of him making one of his paintings, it is just like a dance. Every mark is deliberate and thoughtful, and I didn't see Stevie doing that.
I did see where she was going with the sculpture. First of all she did have a sketch that had the cakes on their sides with very clean lines and looked nothing like the final result. She had problems early on, and it WAS a creative process to reclaim it. The rest seemed like others have said, to be a reflection of her dislike of Kerry. I did like that she didn't give up on the whole thing.
I was so impressed with Zane. That was intriguing to see him change gears from helper to lead. His sunflowers were great. Very loose and not tight at all. Interesting that Kerry's husband liked that one best. Kerry's cakes are beautiful, but she has a very tight controlled style and I can understand her reasons for her final choice.

dynee; not insulting just comparing. to each his/her own

Just as an FYI for those who mentioned it:

Norm has NOT closed up shop. He is operating just like he normally does. I saw him a couple of weeks ago and got an e-mail from him yesterday. Everything is the same for him, and he's recovered from his illness.

Well then brides beware because if we make a mess we'll just add more call it art and charge you double now! It's a one of a kind. I really don't get the mess what is she trying to say or get across? Just looks like a kid playing with stuff and making it mess and junky on purpose. Really it takes no skill to make that kind of a mess. Anyone could do that. But honestly not many of us would because of some of the stuff said right here. This show was just painful to watch. I hope it fades from my memory but I know it will not. Is she just making fun of all of us? Trying to say how pretentious we are trying to perfect visions of what has already been done, that we all so uptight and are not fun..? Does anyone know her here? What is the real message she is trying to convey? Maybe I am reading into it and I know art is subjective but I cant help but to feel a knife here.

The part that bugs me about Stevie is that she doesn't come across on camera as taking the Challenges very seriously (Christmas tree challenge, bridge challenge, KV Cake Challenge). There are a lot of other ways to incorporate drama into Challenge without some chick that will come off as being strung out on acid especially when all of us here can name names of people we'd like to see on Challenge who would jump at the opportunity and treat it as such for their careers. There's a difference between edible art for art's sake and what Stevie is doing (I agree, don't insult Jackson! ). There's also the factor of everything being such a mess, none of our kitchens are perfect when we're in production, but that there wasn't any preparation (which is allowed) that seemed to be done (icing ready to go) and the distracting stunts she did to get attention.

Granted, art is subjective, it's the execution of the fundamentals that Stevie is lacking in these challenges, not just having a messy space, things like you don't put a couple sugar cubes in a triple-shot sized glass and expect the thing not to torch the cake/room and not just that, but that for edible purposes ruined the competitor's cake next to hers because of the kickback from the fire extinguisher. There's a fundamentals problem in that they have had cakes torched for Challenge, but everyone doing the torching had the SKILL to not torch the cake itself. But also, it sort of brings the issue of drug usage because it just seems like she's strung out on something... Could she pass a basic drug test if one were performed. If not, then it's absolutely time for a new competitor.

Time to give someone else a chance as a competitor in Challenge...

I really don't get it! Like many of you have said, they're are so many talented decorators around. Drama or no drama, it is insulting to even watch her. She needs to go away.

Melissa

Steve's work was a big mess, unbelievable that she will present or do something like that to KV and the show..her kitchen was horrendous, I believe that the process and the work should be clean..I dont want to imagine how her real kitchen looks like..

the other cakes were great but buddy made a cake for another person not KV..ha..ha.....great challenge!!

She's the one who set the cereal bridge on end and let it fall over and smash, isn't she?
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I must say some of her inedible pieces are nice (I liked the grass walls), but her focus is NOT on feeding people.

They featured Stevie's cake on Cake Wrecks today. Looks like a lot of others feel the same way as most of us do!

I don't think Stevie's purpose is "to feed people". It is to create visually-interesting sculpture that happens to be made out of edible materials.

And I do think the people on the show ripped her apart. Saying her work is "atrocious" and that her kitchen looks worse than anyone they have ever had on the show, counts in my book.

Also, someone said she came unprepared because she had to make more royal icing on-site. Don't you think she would have had plenty if her cakes had held together, but because they were falling apart she had to keep trying to patch them, and thus used way more than would have been required otherwise?

Now, I do fault her preparedness when it comes to testing her techniques ahead of time, in her own studio, before trying to do them on television. And I do not think her final product was particularly effective.

But I still feel sorry for her. She was set up for failure and disgrace before she ever set foot on that stage.

Thanks for the cake wrecks link to the video.
You know the original design sketch was rather lovely. It could have been a beautiful cake for someone who likes smooth fondant slabs.
Rather zen-like, in grays and soft yellows with rustic bowls of flame lining the slanted tops of the walls. Very calm and romantic.

I thought her design was innovative(sp?) and funky and I really wanted to that in a smooth fondant finish. It would have been amazing. It's something beyond art deco that I would love to try. I just don't understand her style and what she is trying to say.

I don't know if she ever intended to cover it in fondant. Didn't she try to use an edible paper covering?

Well, we know how accurate the ICES newsletter is. They told us Carrie Biggers died after all.[/quote]

Hooray, someone else who knows Carrie! (She did my wedding cake.) Although she didn't die, her sweet husband did. I felt sad about that because I'd only seen him 4 months earlier while grabbing samples to order a anniversary cake.

Regarding Norman's stroke. That sucks. I had one when I was 24 and nor matter how well you recover, you're always TERRORIFIED whenever you feel dizzy, or have a massive headache. I can completely relate.

Oh my dear heavens! It just went off...

I'd be embarrassed to admit I thought that was FUNNY; but everyone there, including the decorator/artist was howling with laughter.
I think I may like her, after all.