Pastry artist who stumbled into baking after quitting Hollywood job due to illness now creates ‘fantastical’ edible art

By Staff reporter
Published 10th Feb 2023, 08:18 BST
Updated 10th Feb 2023, 08:25 BST
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A pastry artist who stumbled into the “magical” world of baking after quitting her job in Hollywood due to illness has said “getting sick was a blessing in disguise”, as she can now spend her days creating “fantastical and unexpected” edible art for her thousands of followers.

Liz Joy, 43, who lives in Texas, in the US, worked as an art director in Hollywood – attending red carpet events and working with high-profile clients such as Warner Bros, Netflix and Disney – for nearly a decade before falling ill and later being diagnosed with insulin resistance.

Liz said working in that role was her “dream”, as she had wanted to work in entertainment and fashion since the age of 12, however, due to health complications related to her condition, including pain and nerve damage, she decided to take a leave of absence.

Liz said she went from being “super social” to “stuck at home”, but in an attempt to occupy her time and maintain her “creative edge”, she found some recipes online, including cookie decorating, and she decided to post some images of her creations on Instagram.

After gaining recognition and working with make-up brands such as Urban Decay Cosmetics, seven years later she has amassed more than 134,000 followers on the platform and she wants to continue inspiring others with her edible art to “bring a little moment of escape”.placeholder image
After gaining recognition and working with make-up brands such as Urban Decay Cosmetics, seven years later she has amassed more than 134,000 followers on the platform and she wants to continue inspiring others with her edible art to “bring a little moment of escape”.

“If I can transport someone, even if they can’t taste it, to something just fantastical and unexpected, that’s what does it for me,” Liz said.

“I’m not solving any problems or anything, but if I can bring a little moment of escape, I think that’s so cool.”placeholder image
“I’m not solving any problems or anything, but if I can bring a little moment of escape, I think that’s so cool.”

She added: “It feels like it’s one of those things that getting sick was a blessing in disguise, and I’m having so much fun.

“And I do still get to use a lot of my skills that I developed working those roles (in Hollywood), so it’s been magical.”

Liz said stumbling into baking in 2015 was an “accident” – but she is very thankful for it.placeholder image
Liz said stumbling into baking in 2015 was an “accident” – but she is very thankful for it.

She explained that she gets bored very easily and, after leaving her job at the age of 36 and watching every season of the television show Gilmore Girls in one week, she thought “I can’t live like this” and knew she needed to find a job that she “could do at home fairly easily”.

She discovered some baking recipes online and, with “trial and error”, quickly developed her skills and her own style.

Liz later went on to study at the Pastry Academy by Amaury Guichon in Las Vegas, US, which she said was “amazing”, and she learned more about French patisserie.placeholder image
Liz later went on to study at the Pastry Academy by Amaury Guichon in Las Vegas, US, which she said was “amazing”, and she learned more about French patisserie.

The former art director, who lives in Texas with her husband, Jason Murray, 41, a railways manager, said she had no prior baking experience, but after embracing her new passion and seeing the joy that she could bring to others, she has never looked back.

“I never would have done this, I never in a million years would have done this,” she said.

“I love working and staying busy, so just being forced to take the time off and find something else is not something I ever would have done, but I love it now.”placeholder image
“I love working and staying busy, so just being forced to take the time off and find something else is not something I ever would have done, but I love it now.”

Liz said she does not like replicating other people’s creations or ideas and takes inspiration from images that “speak to (her) and catch (her) attention”.

Sometimes, if she cannot sleep, she will sit up in bed and “have to type out the idea on (her) phone because (she doesn’t) want to miss it”.placeholder image
Sometimes, if she cannot sleep, she will sit up in bed and “have to type out the idea on (her) phone because (she doesn’t) want to miss it”.

“One thing that I absolutely cannot handle is recreating something that’s already been done before,” she said,

“I’ve been a maker all my life. Ever since I was a kid and could hold a crayon, I just always loved making and drawing and creating things, but I never considered myself like a real artist because I can’t work off a blank canvas. I never could.

“That’s why I liked art direction because I was working with other people’s ideas, so baking has been interesting because I collect any images that just speak to me and catch my attention and I thought, well, what if I now take this image and figure out how to make it edible.”placeholder image
“That’s why I liked art direction because I was working with other people’s ideas, so baking has been interesting because I collect any images that just speak to me and catch my attention and I thought, well, what if I now take this image and figure out how to make it edible.”

Liz started baking and decorating make-up and fashion cookies to begin with, and later became more adventurous, making a Little Red Riding Hood pie and a Cinderella-inspired lemon and elderberry enchanted coach tart – one of the bakes she is most proud of – among many other cookies, pies, and sweet treats.

She said she loves creating lots of layers with toppings, such as biscuits or mini marshmallows, and “playing with light and shadow” with her edible paint and decorating skills.placeholder image
She said she loves creating lots of layers with toppings, such as biscuits or mini marshmallows, and “playing with light and shadow” with her edible paint and decorating skills.

Liz said she realised she could “tell stories with the flavours, textures and aesthetics”, and she wants to make her artwork a full, sensory experience.

Each project takes about three to seven days to make, and Liz creates everything from scratch, including sketching her own templates and making stencils.placeholder image
Each project takes about three to seven days to make, and Liz creates everything from scratch, including sketching her own templates and making stencils.

Even though her creations sometimes take days to make, Liz said she enjoys the fact that her edible art is “ephemeral”, adding: “People, they think it’s crazy, but I love the idea that my artwork lives on in their blood streams.

“Just the fact that you have to destroy it to fully enjoy it I think is a cool aspect of food.”placeholder image
“Just the fact that you have to destroy it to fully enjoy it I think is a cool aspect of food.”

Liz loves that she is constantly doing something new and she works with a wide range of clients, including make-up, fashion and food brands, and even teaches classes on occasion.

She now predominantly focuses on creating dessert-centric content creation for brands and VIP bespoke gifts, where she offers customised, one-off gift boxes with treats.

Liz enjoys posting pictures and videos of her creations on Instagram to see “what resonates with people” and to bring joy to others, and she said the best compliment is when someone says “You made my day”, or that her edible art is “uplifting”.placeholder image
Liz enjoys posting pictures and videos of her creations on Instagram to see “what resonates with people” and to bring joy to others, and she said the best compliment is when someone says “You made my day”, or that her edible art is “uplifting”.

She believes that anyone can bake with “patience and practice”.

“I never knew that showing food through social media could have that kind of reaction, so I do want to focus more on the storytelling and just offering these little titbits of fantasy to people – that’s a direction that I’m super excited about,” she said.placeholder image
“I never knew that showing food through social media could have that kind of reaction, so I do want to focus more on the storytelling and just offering these little titbits of fantasy to people – that’s a direction that I’m super excited about,” she said.

Liz wants to “push (herself) forward”, to work on her storytelling techniques, and to do more pastry and chocolate work in the future, and she hopes to make her artwork as interactive as possible, focusing on getting as much fantasy into one bite.

“I want to make a few more from my list, and hopefully try to move a bit faster and just start telling better, full sensory stories,” she said.placeholder image
“I want to make a few more from my list, and hopefully try to move a bit faster and just start telling better, full sensory stories,” she said.

“I want to see what can be done with personal stories through fairytales and different things, and just try to get as much of that into a bite as possible.”

To find out more about Liz’s work, visit: inspiredtotaste.com or her Instagram page @inspiredtotaste

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