I have truly been learning so much about art and what encompasses that which is described as "Art." I set out to find different types of art, be it painted saw blades, meticulously molded wrought iron, or, today's feature, cake! I was so impressed by the images of the cakes that I did not even realize, when I first viewed them, that they were, uh, those parties that you eat.

Mr. Joachim's sculptured creations are no less, "Works of Art," in the truest sense of the word, just because they do not last in the same way that counterpart art would last. They last in our memories, and in photographs, as seen here on this page. Also, visit Mr. Joachim's web site to view more visuals, like videos. Come with me and learn about Mr. Joachim and his art.

My Mom tells me that when I was two years old the day-care teacher made a point to single her out and tell her I was a very talented artist. At three, I was making animals out of my waffles and started my sculpting career! Sculpting and drawing, growing up, was what made me unique and gave me confidence. Being an artist and being self-expressive has always been who I am and what makes me tick. In high school I went to a magnet school for art and then decided to get a BFA in Studio art in college. I started doing cake sculpture six years ago. After I completed my first piece I realized the potential, called an old friend from college, and told him how amazing if someday my cake sculptures could be considered works of art. In the past year or two I do believe I’ve bridged that gap and have been creating true works of art.

My very first cake sculpture was a cruiseship cake for my Mom. It was her 60th surprise birthday party and I decided to go all out and make a sculpted, 80-serving cruiseship cake with flowing water, balconies, a pool with chairs and more. I've always been very ambitious and this was the first time I made from scratch, candy, fondant, chocolate molds, and of course, a sculpted cake. Six years later and my Mom still talks about it all the time. For years I had been struggling to find my perfect medium and then I discovered combining art and food. This was the first medium that truly drove me. I believe through my edible art sculptures I can make art more accessible to everyone. That alone is a huge motivator for me.

I'll never forget the time I was in 7th grade History and I was asked to leave the class so I could participate in an art show. I ended up placing and winning a cash prize. The drawing that won was placed in a local medical building. It was a delicate line drawing of hanging shirts. Years later my family wanted to see about acquiring the drawing back, but a doctor had taken it home for himself and couldn’t be tracked down.

I usually heat up some water and drink hot water or hot green tea first thing. A typical breakfast for me is a big bowl of organic berries with Greek yogurt and crushed walnuts on top. And, of course I dig into my personal chocolate stash, break off a piece of dark chocolate and get the morning started right!

I don't practice much and don’t create art on a regular basis. I’ve been getting enough work lately that I’m consistently creating. My kids and wife are the most important things in my life and I end up spending lots of time with them. Orlando has a growing art scene and I’m slowly getting more involved with the art community here as well.

Being edible, my art is perishable. So, it really depends on the type of gig. If its a live performance, sometimes it's eaten when I'm done sculpting and other times it just needs to be discarded at the end of the show.

Food Network Challenge winner and live cake sculptor Paul Joachim will make your event sizzle with fascination and excitement. Paul immerses the audience into a themed environment of sculpting cakes the audience has never seen before with visual backdrops, music, tastings, education and one-on-one interaction with the audience.

I am going to be doing a live cake sculpting performance at the Festival of Chocolate here in Orlando. It's going to be a jazz themed performance and I expect about 10,000 people to come through over the 3 day event. My piece will have a 10 foot wide blue and black hued backdrop with jazz musician silhouettes. There will be jazz music and I'll be sculpting a life-size sax musician live. The performance will be in the jetBlue Chill Lounge with large comfy sofas for the audience to relax, watch and listen to me work. There will also be ganache shots so people can taste the medium I use for my delicious art.

In the words of Paul Joachim, from his website, "Food Network Challenge winner and live cake sculptor Paul Joachim will make your event sizzle with fascination and excitement. Paul immerses the audience into a themed environment of sculpting cakes the audience has never seen before with visual backdrops, music, tastings, education and one-on-one interaction with the audience."
Connecting with Paul Joachim :
	Artist Site :	www.artedibles.com
	FB Page :	facebook.com/TheChocolateGenius
	YouTube :	youtube.com/channel/UCcdiqP0GafekDbIcBzsFVhg
	LinkedIn :	linkedin.com/pub/paul-joachim/0/316/486
	Instagram :	instagram.com/thechocolategenius