Betty

A portrait of Betty Crocker first appeared in 1936. It subtly changed over the years, but always accommodated General Mills' cultural perception of the American homemaker: knowledgeable and caring. The current image of Betty Crocker, according to the corporation, is actually a combination of 75 real-life women of diverse backgrounds and ages. These portraits were always painted, with no real person ever having posed as a model, and they never showed the character from the shoulders down.


First Face of Betty...Adelaide Hawley Cumming

The General Mills Company created the character of Betty Crocker in 1948 to answer baking questions American women sent to the company by letter. General Mills hired Cumming because it thought she represented the stereotypical image of the American homemaker. From 1950-1952 Cumming appeared on the half-hour Betty Crocker Show and in 1952 on the Betty Crocker Star Matinee and Bride and Groom. She also appeared in many commericals touting cake mixes and other General Mills products. General Mills billed Cumming as "America's First Lady of Food" until 1964 when it dropped her at the age of 59 for someone younger.

After receiving a Ph.D. from New York University, Cumming went on to a second career as a teacher of English as a second language.

Sloane

Sloane...needs acupuncture on her ankle 

Betty Crocker

I couldn't help myself.

While researching company information on Betty Crocker I came across this history of the faces of Betty Crocker.  I would like to find more company information-who was the artist that painted the first face of Betty Crocker? Was there a model-if so, who was she, who are all these women? They look stern, determined, actually they look like republicans.....

kate and annmarie

Kate...wants to start her own sleep consultant business

Annmarie...started a business with her husband

New Work

This past weekend I began a new body of work...

I have been using frosting as a medium for a while but I began a new photographic series this weekend. My intention is to show 10+ of these images along with a site-specific drawing done in frosting for a few upcoming shows that I am in. I have mixed feelings about the success of the early shots-have a few things to change and improve but wanted share the results nonetheless. Plus I have to thank the ladies who participated-they were so great and generous with their skin! They will be identified with first names only and a fact that I learned about them while they were being covered in frosting.

Penny...has trouble sitting still

Jess...sore from the 'warrior dash'

Many more to come!

You're not going to find anything...

During the installation of my work my camera stopped working...here are the only shots I have. This was part of a traveling exhibition curated by Ben Hillis of Salem Art Works (SAW). The text reads 'you're not going to find anything'. It is a quote taken from the 'Days of our Lives' soap opera and was extracted from a conversation between 'Sammy and Rafe'.  For over a year and a half I have been collecting quotations from the ‘Days of Our Lives’ soap opera that speak to women's (and mine in particular) reactions to staying at home with children. Taken out of context this overly dramatic daytime television dialectic is used as a jumping off point to discuss the realities and complexities of motherhood. I have just begun a new body of work using more of the frosting....some tests are in the works and I hope to post some progress shots soon.