click to enlarge “Owl Pancakes” by Sandra Marshall, who uses every part of a plant in her art, from pods to seeds to stems. Courtesy Jameson & Associates For food artist Sandra Marshall, it took just a simple potato tuber, clad in kale with eggplant gloves and similar to Senator Bernie Sanders when the president was inaugurated, to generate six million views on social media earlier this year. (A retweet from the author Stephen King didn’t hurt either.) Marshall, who lives in Phoenix, uses only plant-based foods in her art and creates fruit and vegetable characters such as Sanders, Donald Trump, Johnny Depp, and other familiar faces and portraits of pandas , Owls and other wildlife. Before Essen became her main medium, Marshall taught painting in Italy and ran the Phoenix Art Studio and Be … An Artist school, which she closed in 2019 to focus on her career as a food art (she still teaches online). I Support Local Community Journalism Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of the New Times clear. We recently caught up with Sanders to talk about why she switched to plant-based, her two food-themed art books, and more. What was the first vegetable dish you made? My first vegetable dish was “owl soup”. My parents dropped a bunch of vegetables at my home before going on vacation because they would get sick when they got home. They were on the table and my 3 year old son said, “Yuck! I won’t eat them! “And about a week earlier my five-year-old daughter had declared that she would never eat meat again – as if cooking wasn’t hard enough! I sat and stared at the huge pile of brightly colored vegetables in the light sat out the window and looked like a lovely owl to me. I moved some things and that was when the fun started. The owl was adorable and my kids were intrigued. I made up a cute story and told them we Eat “owl soup” for dinner. You ate all the soup and I thought, Hmmmmmm. You’re on something! ‘ I never stopped making this 12 years ago click to enlarge “Bernie in Eggplant, Potato and Kale” (aka “Taste the Bern”) by Sandra Marshall Courtesy Jameson & Associates What is the most delicious food art who have made? Bernie Sanders in Eggplant, Potato and Kale looks pretty tasty. I have to say, Potato and Kale Soup is one of my favorite soups. When the Bernie meme came out with its mittens, I had to make it! I looked in my fridge and found the cutest little potato and thought to myself, let’s go! I’ll make Bernie. I added cauliflower, kale and eggplant and there it was. After I made it I cut up all my veggies, added white beans and add some other ingredients, and Bernie Soup was a real hit with my family. What is the most unusual or exotic food that you have used in your art? My good friends took me away on an Asian market. You are from Malaysia. They were excited to open a whole new door to my art. They had fruits and vegetables there that I would never have dreamed of in this market! They held my arm and walked around the store asking what I could see. I grabbed some vegetables and told them, “I see a beautiful, sexy woman lying down!” They looked at each other with big smiles and started laughing. I did the lady and they made dinner with what we bought. The sexy woman ended up being the cover of my fun adult food art and stories book, One Hot Night at the Veggie Bar, which came out in 2016. Click to enlarge Sandra Marshall’s replica of Michelangelo’s “David” in mashed potatoes. Courtesy Jameson & Associates How is the food arts in your first adult book different from the food arts in your second children’s book? My first book, One Hot Night At the Veggie Bar, is full of funny short stories that go with any piece of art. Some are hot and hot and some are just plain funny and cute. There was a time when my husband was working late. I made him a potato and lentil soup when he got home. It was dark in the kitchen and when he came in there was a naked lady made of potatoes and lentils in a pot who was boiling as if she were sitting in a jacuzzi and relaxing. The look on his face was priceless! This picture is in my adult book with a hot story to join in. I started posting the stories and artwork on Facebook and everyone asked when the book for their kitchen was out. The adult came out first because my publisher wanted it. I was really looking forward to the release. I had friends who told me it was their children’s favorite book and I winced. There were bare potatoes and weird stories in there! Next I had to get out my children’s book and it’s finally here. It took me four years to create this children’s book and it was well worth it. Every part of The Razzle Berry Wackadoodle Garden is made up of layers and layers of healthy fruits and vegetables. There are cute animals everywhere in this book. Watermelon pigs, cauliflower poodles, cute kiwi sloths – and that’s just the beginning. On the sides, the sunsets are a close-up of a peach skin and broccoli trees really are a thing! When you open the book it lists all of the fruits and vegetables, then their history and all of the food art. In the end it breaks down what all art was made of. Everything is listed and the kids are so excited. “Hang on for the ride” by Sandra Marshall Courtesy of Jameson & Associates
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