Journey To Notter School and Orlando: Stephane Treand

Isabella comes to life! :o)

My creation of Isabella *giggles* before Andreas brought her to life! :o) I had never airbrushed a face before, so please don't laugh! :o)

What can I say? I LOVE AIRBRUSHING!!! :o)

Chef Stephane Treand is TRULY the AIRBRUSH MASTER!!!

Put anything in front of him, and he could easily replicate it with his steady hands, keen eyes, and amazing artistic abilities! In 2004, he became an M.O.F. (Meilleur Ouvrier de France), the top honor in the pastry industry in France.

In these past three days, I returned to the Notter School, not as a 24 week program pastry student, but this time, as an alumni. At first, I had no idea what that was going to be like, but I can honestly say that it was definitely a different feel. I was excited to do more airbrushing, but more so, excited to meet the creator of the gorgeous showpieces in the school's lobby.

During my first visit to the school (to check it out), I was told that I was going to learn how to airbrush lifelike faces during the 24 week program. Not true! :o( However, when I found out that it was through the class with Chef Stephane, I did not hesitate to sign up for the class. Tah Dah! Here I was, FINALLY taking the class I was dying to take. Woo Hoo!! :o)

After taking his class, it reconfirmed something I've noticed/learned in the pastry world. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE! No one shows more patience than Chef Stephane. Although I was itching to get my hands on the airbrush machine, I could have watched him airbrush showpieces all day long.

Unfortunately, I wasn't going to get away with it that easily. Hahaha! Instead, we had to get into teams of two or three and create a showpiece. I partned up with Andreas Proisl, the Executive Pastry Chef from Isleworth. His idea was to do an autumn themed showpiece. As long as we got to put one of those lifelike faces in the showpiece, I couldn't care less what our theme was. While we were brainstorming, I was a little scared that our idea was a little overly ambitious. However, after seeing the final result, I was amazingly proud of our work!! VOILA!!! and SUCH GREAT TEAMWORK TOO!!! :o)