A Re-Introduction!
I've just started working full-time on Art for Foodies and figured now would be a good time to re-introduce myself via my Studio Blog - something I'm hoping to have more time now to write posts for!
Ever since I first graduated from art school in 2013 I have always had a side job of some form to help support my creative practice. I’ve worked as an Art Tutor, Gallery Assistant, Technician and curator in the Arts and worked as a busser, server, supervisor, Duty Manager and Assistant General Manager in restaurants.
For the last 7 years I’ve been working for my Dad in the financial services (very different!), however at the ripe old age of 75, he has decided to (finally) retire and have a very well earned rest after working so hard over the years to support his family. Quite simply without the multi-faceted support he has provided for me over the years there would be no Art for Foodies and so this seemed like a good time for me to go solo and try my hand working full-time.
On some levels this seems like madness as it’s not the most financially stable and sustainable career in the world (to say the least!) and I’m pretty self-aware that what I offer is a bit niche on the grand scheme of things… However I have so many ideas floating around and never feel like I have enough time to do them, especially when I’ve been so used to having only 3 days a week to focus on Art for Foodies, so I’ve decided to take the plunge!
If you’re feeling generous and would like to support my foray into full-time then I am literally fuelled by coffee, so why not buy me one….
One of the things I’m now looking forward to having more time for is writing! I have a long-neglected Studio Blog that I’d like to write monthly articles for ranging from deeper dives into how my products are made, discussing some of the inspiration and ideas behind them, and maybe some musings on food-themed things that inspire me - maybe some recipe/restaurant recommendations too!
Anyway, as a way to kick things off, I thought it would be nice to re-introduce myself to you. For those who already know who I am and want to read about my full journey from art school to Art for Foodies, then click here to skip the introduction and get right to the knitty gritty!
But first, you should probably go grab a coffee before we begin…
Dusty Pink Espresso Coaster by Art for Foodies. Image credit: Jilly Jilly Studio
Hello, I’m David… and I’m pretty obsessed with food! While I love nothing more than to cook, I learnt this about myself a bit later in life via a career in the arts and decided to make art about food instead!
Photo of me in my current studio space (shared with 7 other makers!). Image credit: Jilly Jilly Studio
Fun-filled and food-focussed
Bored of seeing mass-produced kitchen decor, I produce carefully crafted, playful products that make your kitchen stand out, and celebrating the craftsmanship of food & drink producers in more permanent (& displayable) ways.
Think ceramic pasta fridge magnets made with clay the same way edible pasta is made with dough, or original oil paintings (and prints) of farm-grown fruits and vegetables, or hand crafted placemats and coasters to colourfully frame your dishes and drinks and cabinet knobs to provide some colour pops to your kitchen decor.
While you can shop from me online, I also like to pop up at in-person markets and am proud to be stocked in over 15 independent gift shops, farm shops and food retailers across the UK.
I’ve also been featured in Christmas Gift Guides by The Times, Homes & Interiors Scotland, The Wealdon Times and Surrey Homes in 2025.
Ceramic Ravioli Fridge Magnet by Art for Foodies. Image credit: Jilly Jilly Studio
Go Bespoke
I like to spoil my customers for choice so have made many of my products customisable. I can produce my Drinks Coasters, Espresso Coasters, Placematsand Furniture Knob Handles in colours and finishes of your choice. For example, customers often send me images of specific shades and tones for me to colour match or photos of their kitchens for me to use as inspiration and pick colour combinations on their behalf. If you’d like a specific size or shape, just get in touch and I’ll provide a tailored quote.
As for my Food Portrait Paintings, you can choose what I paint! Customers often buy these to celebrate their favourite fruits and vegetables and display in their kitchens or they make great house warming gifts with customers asking me to paint their recipient’s favourite ingredient!
Cherry Tomatoes Oil Painting by Art for Foodies
Sustainability
It is important to me as a maker to consider the environmental impact of my work. This is an ongoing process and I’m always looking for new ways to reduce the environmental impact of my work. You can read about what I have in place here
In short, I avoid plastic packaging as much as possible, using mostly paper and cardboard to pack your orders and sourcing biodegradable alternatives for any plastics I do use.
I have systems in place to reduce waste in the studio as much as possible, reclaiming leftover clay scraps and recycling any surplus cured Jesmonite to make other products with. I also offer a repair and refresh service for all my Jesmonite products (coasters, placemats and furniture knob handles) to help them last you a very long time!
Giving It Back
I’ve always had a passion for helping others and sharing my skills and knowledge. If you’re interested in learning about Jesmonite casting or making your own art for foodies, I offer workshops (find my upcoming dates here). I also run a mould-making and casting service called Mould Fashioned to serve fellow creatives requiring bespoke moulds to suit your own casting projects. I can also cast objects for you!
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My Inspiration
I see myself as a frustrated cook turned artist who celebrates the artistry of food production with kitchen-focussed artworks, homewares and gifts for fellow food & drink lovers.
The ideas behind my products are fed (sorry) from many different sources including books on the subject of food history covering individual ingredients, developments in cookery, food service, food trends and diets as well as chef biographies, recipes and cookbooks. I’m also an avid consumer (sorry again) of cooking shows and food-focussed podcasts.
You can find a list of food-related books I recommend over on Bookshop.org and if you order any of my book recommendations through the Order button below, I receive a small commission from the sale plus you’ll be directly supporting local, independent bookshops!
My Story
I founded Art for Foodies in 2019 (ish).
Born in Paisley, I grew up in Ayr and studied Painting at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen 2009-2013 with an interest in megalomania, architecture and the artifice of grandeur (!) making things like this:
Megalomania (left) and Prop II: Basilica (right) works from my solo show Projection at Interview Room 11, Edinburgh, 2019. Image credit: Craig Gibson
Food is a subject I have been increasingly interested in since undertaking an MLitt in Curatorial Practice between the Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow (2017-18) where my final project resulted in an artist-run pop-up restaurant called Artists’ Spread.
Prior to this I had spent 4 years balancing working 40+ hour working weeks at a Mexican restaurant, which I juggled with producing and exhibiting my artworks across the country while also Co-directing the voluntary artist-run initiative Visual Artist Unit along with 7 of my art school peers. I was exhausted and looking to shift focus towards art and curation and thought undertaking a Masters would be my best bet to kick-starting a ‘proper’ career in the arts.
And so in an attempt to move away from hospitality I enrolled in the MLitt Curatorial Practice Course taught between Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow in 2017.
I wasn’t expecting my day job to impact my art practice (beyond the recurring thought that I was sick to the back teeth of serving tacos!), so I was surprised as anyone when my research interests ultimately settled on the subject of artists’ working in the hospitality industry, and for my final project to result in a pop-up restaurant! But I’ve come to realise that food has in fact always been a major concurrence in my art practice.
For my masters project I curated a one-night only pop-up restaurant night called Artists’ Spread run entirely by a team of artists at the former Project Café site in Glasgow featuring both art and food on the menu. The image above shows the specially commissioned ceramic lemon juicers made by Studio Yoki in use by guests during the meal at Project Cafe in August 2018. Image credit: Christina Riley
I think back fondly to my days studying painting at Gray’s School of Art, where half of our class would congregate for regular ‘corridor lunches’ during our Degree Show year, squatting on the linoleum floor outside our studio rooms (and just down the hall from the staff in the Departmental office, who must have been privy to all sorts of shite chat!) with our sandwiches and classic ‘kettle-based’ meals such as instant noodles and packets of cous cous. If we were feeling fancy, a large table would be whipped out with a selection of breads, dips, meats, cheeses, fruits, savoury snacks and sweet treats shared out among us. Sometimes the tutors would join us. On one hot summer’s day, we congregated on the rooftop to cool down dished out a tub of classic vanilla ice cream cones for all. I still wonder how on earth we managed to churn out a full body of work for our Degree Shows…
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Speaking of Degree Shows, like most final year art school Undergrads, we would organise bake sales throughout the year in order to raise funds for ours. Needless to say, when the opportunity to out-do each other in the baking stakes arose, the actual work we had to do for the Show went out the window.
As for the exhibition openings we would attend throughout the year, the food on offer was critiqued almost as much as the art! The ‘Spoon Cheese’ delights offered up at The Foyer in Aberdeen (sadly closed now) were a standout favourite of mine. These were a sort of amuse bouche involving some form of soft cheese like Brie or Stilton, served on a ceramic spoon. A group of my art friends took this love of exhibition preview spreads forward (buoyed in no small part by our success in negotiating 20 free bottles of gin for our Degree Show opening) when we formed Visual Artist Unit and started organising our own exhibitions with home baking featuring regularly.
Following art school I was lucky enough to be selected for an Information Assistant role for Scotland + Venice; the Scottish presentation at the Venice Biennale 2013 curated by The Common Guild. For 6 weeks I joined a team of 3 other recent graduates with the wonderful job of invigilating the works of Hayley Tompkins, Duncan Campbell and Corin Sworn, within an old Palazzo building in Venice. Aside from the obvious fantastic opportunity in having so many internationally renowned artists’ work on my doorstep, my fondest memories from this time surround the weekly feasts our team spent preparing together. This tradition soon extended to our counterpart delegates from other countries, and we took it in turns to share dishes from our home nations, with one night resulting in an experimental lentil version of mince and tatties to cater for a few vegetarians. So the story goes, it was (whisper it quietly) better than the meat version…!
I could go on for hours with many more fond food memories that have intersected my working experience as an artist, but it’s important to note this interest isn’t unique to me. Throughout my career I have observed that many artists form a similar engagement with food and cooking.
While for some artists food and cooking is just a hobby, for a growing number it directly feeds into what they do or make, emerging almost as a distinct discipline demanding almost as much focus towards research and development as their art. An increasing number of artists have also gone on to launch highly successful food-related businesses, a testament to how these parallel practices can help artists navigate what is normally a highly precarious creative career.
But what’s the inherent correlation between artists and food? There’s certainly an argument to be made that this could be explained by the ubiquity of the hospitality industry as a second career for many artists, but I think there’s more to it than that. The best chefs are devoted to their craft, constantly tinkering away with different flavour combinations, cooking techniques and plating methods, and they embrace failure as a process of learning. They also display a generosity and willingness to share their knowledge and interests through their work, engage with the public, collaborate with their peers and deliver public presentations and workshops. You don’t need much imagination to realise how these methods and practices are analogous to an artist’s practice. My belief is that in fact the creative processes involved in producing food and art, are in fact both drawing from the same well.
Following completion of my Masters degree, I launched Artists’ Tuck Shop in 2019 as a vehicle to support fellow food-loving artists recognising a trend for artists working with food as a subject. I also started working for my Dad in the financial services to help pay my bills having left the restaurant job.
During lockdown in 2020 I secured funding from Creative Scotland enabling me to work with 25 artists who shared my interests in food and self-published an artist-made cookbook titled Make Bake Cook Book as part of Artists’ Tuck Shop.
Copies of Make Bake Cook Book: A Collection of Artists’ Works and Recipes, funded by Creative Scotland and self-published in Dec 2020.
Make Bake Cook Book, features the artworks and recipes of 25 artists based in Scotland with further text contributions from a select group of creative individuals.
However, as you might expect with artists at the helm, this is not your run of the mill cookbook. Some recipes are simple to follow, while others are deeply impractical. In some cases, artists have subverted the brief by supplying readers with additional instructions to follow in order to make their own origami or glaze recipe from home. Make Bake Cook Book compiles a fantastic array of creative responses from 25 artists based in Scotland, tasked with sharing a sense of the artwork they make, the food they like to cook and bake, while detailing their interests in both food and art.
For the next few years I used the proceeds from Make Bake Cook Book sales to commission other artists to make food-themed works to stock and sell with Artists’ Tuck Shop, popping up at various markets around Glasgow.
Around the same time, I began to explore food as a subject in my own work and launched Art for Foodies in 2021. I decided to close down Artists' Tuck Shop in Jan 2025 because I was spreading myself too thin (sound familiar?) trying to run two creative businesses at once and feeling like I wasn't managing to do either of them as well as I would have liked… which brings us back nicely to the start of this blog post when I was sharing with you my decision to finally give full-time a try!
As you can now see, it’s been a very busy (and exhausting) journey for me up until now, which is why I’m very much looking forward to stripping things back and putting my full focus into one line of work now instead of multiple!
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Further Reading
If you’re interested in reading more about food and art crossovers, countless art projects have emerged in recent years with food at their heart.
Internationally renowned artist Olafur Eliasson’s studio houses a dedicated kitchen to feed his 90+ studio assistants. Though it started life as a small communal space for around 15 studio members to cook for each other, the kitchen has emerged into a fully-fledged artistic project in of itself known as SOE Kitchen. In recent years, SOE Kitchen has branched out to releasing a cookbook, The Kitchen, first published in 2013, and in 2019 undertaken a kitchen residency of the Terrace Bar within the Tate Modern, to coincide with Eliassion’s exhibition In Real Life.
Brussels-based Swiss artist Nicholas Party is another with a practice heavily rooted in food, an example being his 2017 commission Café Party, for which he transformed the restaurant building in Jupiter Artland with decorative wall paintings, custom furniture and serveware, hand-painted tables and crockery. But this wasn’t the first time Party had paired painting with food. In both Dinner for 24 Elephants at the Modern Institute (2011) and Dinner for 24 Dogs at Salon 94 (2012), he organised dinner parties as exhibitions. In a similar vein to Café Party, he designed the furniture, tableware and décor, with guests being served a seven-course meal of individual items including a single sausage with mustard on a plate.
And you don’t need to look too hard to find yet more recent examples out in the wild that echo the innovation of Eliasson and Party, blending the boundaries between food and art. These include Narture, an experimental bakery/kitchen in Ayr, The Domestic Godless, a Cork-based artist collective and Deveron Projects, an arts organisation based in the small market village of Huntly.
Narture explore the notions of food as art and art as food, raising the ‘dough’ from sales of real bread baked freshly on the premises, in order to fund art projects in their gallery space.
Founded by artists Stephen Brande, Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy, The Domestic Godless produce recipes, installations and public presentations with food being used as both a concept and a medium through which to explore artistic irrerevance.
Deveron Projects are a community-minded arts organisation, producing projects that connect artists, communities and places. One example is their partnership last year with Scots-Iraqi artist-chef Kawther Luay to initiate a local hospitality project called Neep & Okra Kitchen. This aimed to regenerate the local area by offering locals a place to explore new tastes, exchange ideas and develop new friendships and connections, with food as the vehicle.
In terms of publishing, Issue 205 of Frieze Magazine, otherwise known as The Food Issue, released in 2019, set out to explore the role of food in contemporary culture with considerations towards the human and environmental implications of its supply and cultivation. The issue included a mix of specially commissioned texts, recipes and contributions from a broad range of artists and writers around the world.
On a more local level, Artists’ Cookbook by Rudy Kanhye, whose work features in Make Bake Cook Book, which was released in 2017 and compiled from artists’ contributions, aims to explore cultural contexts and rituals surrounding cooking and eating.
The projects I have listed above form only a small selection of recent examples of artist-centred food projects, however, once you scratch beneath the surface, you soon begin to uncover a wealth of exciting food-based art projects in existence around the world!