From Buttercream to Blooms: Piping buttercream flowers for the win!

Adrienne Wiggins
Jan 24
1 min read

How I Started Creating 3D Floral Art with Piped Paint

You don’t see 3D floral art like mine every day. I’m proud that it’s unusual, eclectic, and profoundly interesting—but also very beautiful. My pieces are, at the very least, conversation starters.

One of the most common questions I receive is, “How did you get started doing this?” My answer usually surprises people: buttercream.

The Gaffey Art Materials product I use is exorbitantly expensive to make textured floral paintings, and I’ve only seen one or two other artists creating work similar to mine. I followed their Instagram accounts for a while and just knew in my bones this was something I could do.

So I decided to go for it. Only one hurdle—I had no idea how to pipe flowers. (Totally on brand for me, by the way.) I researched stiff buttercream recipes, bought food coloring and cake supplies, and did a deep dive on the internet for piping tutorials. Then I went to town.

I spent nearly two years practicing cupcake decorating and honing the muscle memory needed to get all the designs just right.

Eventually, I tried a few paint kits from Gaffey to see how I liked it. And… oh snap. I fell completely in love. Gah-gah kind of love. Infatuated. Obsessed, really. It didn’t take long for me to switch from frosting to paint.