(”Tulips” from GumArt.com)
Today we’re bringing you a whole gaggle of artists that work in our favorite artisitic medium …. candy. Specifically, gum. Ok, it’s only 3, but there’s not that many of them out there!
First up, we have Bubble Gum Society which features portraits of reality TV stars done out of gum. Included are portraits of cast members of American Idol, Survivor, The Apprentice & others. These are done Ben Harben, who has been at it since 1998, and created the portraits as a commentary on how today’s television celebrities are “chewed up, and spit out”. He also does custom portaits.
Next, comes Gum Blondes, which I heard about after artist Jason Kronenwald was featured on an episode of Food Networks’ Unwrapped. His website is all in Flash so we can’t link to the gallery directly, but here’s a flickr set of some of his work on display in Canada.
Third, we have GumArt.com, chewed by Jamie Marraccini, who has apparently been making gum art for a whopping 17 years! Jamie’s art is more 3 dimensional that the others. I like the “mouth tulips” at the top of his gallery (seen above), very Audrey II from Little Shop Of Horrors. Jamie has made over 30 pieces of gum art, which included over 35,000 pieces of gum! One of the pieces even took him FIVE YEARS to complete.
If you’re interested in making your own gum art, there is Chew By Numbers, which provides kits and instructions on how to make your own gum masterpiece. Priced at $13 each, they offer 3 different kits to let your inner gum artist out. Each kit includes instructions, preprinted artboard, and of course, gum. Sounds like that would be a blast to do with kids!
More candy articles about: candy, sweets, art, gum, artist, artists, chewing gum, bubble gum, bubblegum
Thanks for a whole new way to look at gum, Candy Addict. I’ll never turn down a stick again thinking what it might become after the flavor’s gone. Not just garbage anymore.
August 5th, 2006 at 10:37 amGumpaste I’m familiar with-necco wafers are made of it I think. But plain ol chewing gum is new to me as an art form. Love it!
These are just great. I love the gum blondes art. The art is just amazing.
August 6th, 2006 at 8:04 amFantastic gum art. I’ve never seen anything like it.
August 18th, 2006 at 2:22 amI tried to purhase these gum art kits as christmas gifts - I placed the order Dec 4 and live literally 6hrs max from where they ship , and on Dec 20 I still do not have them. Has anyone ever ordered from Gum Art before - i am leary that I have been taken…
December 20th, 2007 at 8:47 am