Carla Maskall has given a sweet touch to the Historic Stewart Farmhouse, re-creating the South Surrey landmark from gingerbread.
The Peninsula artist – who took to plein-air painting at the Crescent Road property during the pandemic – delivered her rendition of the heritage home to the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver on Saturday (Nov. 26, 2022), entering it in their annual Gingerbread Lane event, a fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation.
Building materials for the structure – dubbed ‘An Old Fashioned Christmas at Surrey’s Historical Stewart Farmhouse’ – included candy canes, brown candy corn, Tic Tacs, Smarties and “lots and lots and lots of icing sugar,” Maskall said.
“But the first step was constructing a model of the farmhouse out of cardboard,” she said.
“It’s very tricky architecture.”
Standing about 1.5 feet tall on a two-by-three-foot platform, the finished piece includes the farm’s apple shed, trees and “all kinds of stuff.”
Maskall began working on it at the beginning of November, and put the finishing touches on last Friday (Nov. 25, 2022). The lifelong artist, whose work is featured in a Schitt’s Creek coffee table book, noted that baking is not her forte.
However, she said she has previously made gingerbread replicas of the roadside hotel from Schitt’s Creek and the convenience store from Kim’s Convenience.
Last year, her re-creation of the White Rock museum, train station and pier earned first-place and People’s Choice awards – $1,750 in cash prizes – at the Central City Shopping Centre’s Gingerbread Village competition. The funds, said Maskall, went to construction of a gazebo at a Surrey men’s shelter, in memory of her late nephew, Dylan.
READ MORE: PHOTOS: Artist’s contest-winning ‘Beach Walk’ gingerbread village remembers nephew
Despite her apparent talent in the field – which Maskall said caught the attention of one of the food networks – Maskall insists she is not a baker.
“The funny thing is, because I won the (Surrey Central) contest, one of the food networks contacted me and they wanted me to audition,” she said.
“I’m not really a baker, I’m just an artist.”
READ ALSO: Book reading a Family Day treat at White Rock museum
Maskall said if her entry at the Hyatt happens to win a cash prize, she’ll be sure to put the funds to good use.
“I’ll find something interesting to do with it,” she said.
The Gingerbread Lane display, in its 30th year, is free for the public to peruse, from Dec. 2-29. The Hyatt is located at 655 Burrard St.
tholmes@peacearchnews.com
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