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| Sunday, 26 December 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Samudra Dunuwila : Sweet success by Lakmal Welabada Once Sri Lanka was known the world over for her tea. Then came the world beating cricketers. Now, however, it seems to be the turn of the 'cake-makers', with many of them receiving international acceptance for their creativity with cake flowers and frosting. And the latest to join the growing band of internationally acclaimed cake-makers is Samudra Dunuwila, whose artistry brought her fame at the World International Cake Competition held at Stonele Park, Coventry, London a few months ago. Samudra won the Bronze medal in the sugar flower arrangements and wedding structures in the Open Class Division, and the Silver medal for her single piece cake with two floral arrangements in the International Division. "All the judges, praised the Sri Lankan craftsmanship," says Samudra, pointing out that there were 29 judges from eight countries, and that most of them had been surprised by the creativity of the Sri Lankans contingent. Samudra returned to Sri Lanka, bringing not only the medals she won, but also new equipment and raw materials needed to upgrade her sugar craft skills. Her aim is to train her students and hold a massive exhibition in sugar craft titled 'Sugar Elegance' at BMICH in February 2005. A product of Senkadagalapura, Samudra is the archetypal 'Kandy Lamissi' who studied at Hillwood College, Kandy and participated in all kinds of sports including netball, swimming, athletics, tennis and basketball. Creative by nature, she indulged in painting as a hobby, nursed dreams of being an air hostess before realising that being creative with cakes and confectionary was her forte. She was 19-years at that time and went on to master almost all the homecrafts available. She learnt cake making and decorating, candle making, chocolate making, vegetable carving, sugar flower making and doll making. She also mastered Wilton sugar crafts under Mrs. Shiela de Silva, who has been behind Samudra, encouraging her work throughout. Samudra followed the four week course in floral arrangements, wood decoupage and glass painting at Manako Flower Academy in Singapore in 1999. She also became a member among the three to four internationally qualified Wilton sugar crafts persons in Sri Lanka after following the three weeks course at the Wilton School of Cake Decorating in Illinois in Chicago, USA in February this year. City Mission Hall, Kandy and St. Mary's Parish Hall, Dehiwala have been her venue for imparting her knowledge on homecrafts. She, along with her students have had two exhibitions in cake making and crafts at Sampath Hall in Kandy. 'Sankalana 2000' exhibition which she presented with her guru Shiela de Silva was one of the memorable events in her life. The exhibition held at the BMICH drew a massive crowd. Once a fortnight Samudra holds a class in Galle. She has also held many workshops in Chilaw, Gampaha, Kiribathgoda, Matara, Ratnapura and Badulla. "The experience we get from the outstation students is very different. Most of them were followers of the TV programmes I did in 'Liya Sevana' on Swarnavahini and 'Nuga Sevana' on Rupavahini. They were very fond of us, and that was really touching," she reminisces. **** Samudra offers some handy hints, that are almost trade secrets in the homecrafts industry. You can try them out to make beautiful and touching gift items this season. Cold Porcelain Cold Porcelain is something that one can use to turn out beautiful ornaments, cake decorative and any other hard accessories. "It's long lasting and is better than plaster of paris," says Samudra. Ingredients: Cornflour - 1 cup Chemifix gum - 1/2 cup Baby Oil - 1 tsp Water - 1 tsp Polythene / foil paper Air tight container Method Put Chemifix, baby oil and water into a saucepan and boil it in a low flame. Then add cornflour and mix with a spoon. Gradually collect the mixture to the spoon. The mixture forms into a greasy ball. Let the 'ball' get cold for about 4 hours. Then cover it with polythene or foil paper and keep it in an air tight container. Get a portion of it, knead it on a wooden tray with a rolling pin and mould it into whatever mini-sculpture you like. Let your creation air dry. It gets completely dried and hardens within two days. You can colour it using fabric paints or Acrylic colours. To make the colour long lasting, apply clear varnish on it. The mould could be kept for about three days if you keep it well packed air tight. Gelatin flowers Ingredients: Gelatin - 2 tbsp Boiling water - 1/4 - 1/2 cup White metal barbed wire An S-lon tube 3 inches in diameter and 6 inches long Method First make the petal frame. Put the metal wire around the S-lon tube and make the petals Now put gelatin into a cup and pour boiling water into it. mix and make a thick gelatin mixture. Add the food colouring and mix. Let the gelatin mixture come down to luke warm temperature. Then dip the petal frame into it, hold it until the excess gelatin drips into the gelatin mixture. Fix the petals on a regiform until it gets dried. The gelatin petal might melt if the gelatin mixture is either too hot or watery. The mixture should be of luke warm temperature. The petal gets completely dried within half an hour. You can also make leaves using the same method, and turn out a beautiful glazed flower arrangement for the season. |
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