DANCAKES

Dancakes is the first name in Professional Pancake Art. Their talented and charismatic artists create portraits and designs out of 100% edible pancake batter for events around the world, bringing joy and laughter wherever they go.

Initially, Dancakes was a name coined for the pancake art “parlor trick” that Dan developed while working at a small diner in his hometown of St. Louis. Hired in 2009, he served his edible art in relative obscurity until a Reddit post documenting his process went viral in the fall of 2013. Very suddenly his rather obscure Facebook page, “Dr. Dan the Pancake Man,” started to gain a substantial following.  This exposure culminated in an invitation to appear live on a broadcast of NBC’s The Today Show; visibility from that broadcast led to a myriad of phone calls and emails asking Dan if he performed pancake art outside of his diner gig. With encouragement from his best friend Hank Gustafson, the pair formally incorporated Dancakes, becoming the world’s first professional pancake art company.

Request your very own custom pancake from two of Dancake’s artists at Whimsy & Wonder.

Scott Wade

Scott Wade, otherwise known as the Dirty Car Artist, began drawing at an early age. Dirty Car Art wasn’t an “aha” moment. It evolved from living on a long, dirt road, where the family cars were always covered with a fine layer of dust. In this case, limestone and clay from the road base- or “caliche” as the locals call it -of Central Texas, where Scott lives. Having such a great canvas, Scott couldn’t resist drawing on the windows (particularly the rear window, which gets the most dust), much as you might write “wash me,” with a finger drawing a fat line. His early drawings were usually funny faces; his dad was an amateur cartoonist, and Scott developed his own style of cartooning. Eventually though, he became curious; could he expand the visual vocabulary from that fat line? He started experimenting with using a fingernail to get a finer line, the pads of his fingers brushed lightly to create some shading. One day, having finished a popsicle, he took the chewed end of the stick out of his mouth and tried it as a brush. Soon he was trying all his brushes to see what effects they could achieve. He started photographing and emailing the resulting drawings to his friends. One of those emails was forwarded to a local columnist, which resulted in the media wanting to showcase his work, which turned into opportunities to create his special kind of art all over the world!

You can find Scott Wade drawing on Liberty Hill’s favorite “dirty car” at Quick Service Garage.

Laura Lincoln

Laura Lincoln, from Cedar Park, is a local artist whose current focus is Contemporary Craft. She has always been fascinated with texture and is endlessly inspired by the shapes and surfaces – a sort of visual rhythm – found in nature.

Almost all her work involves paper and up-cycled materials. She hates waste and enjoys the challenge of making art with whatever she has on hand at the time.  When she needs to replenish stock, she starts with the local re-use center.  She takes materials that have traditionally been used for another purpose in the home and changes their destiny.

Linda will be doing a live demonstration of “painting” with paper. Using water in combination with gesso, clear glue, or Mod Podge, she will combine different types of paper to form a scene. The audience is invited to participate in her demo.

John Howell

John has been a commercial artist for 17 years. He has painted artwork for magazines, advertisements, posters, and children’s books. His illustrations have been published by Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Capital One Visa, Smart Money Magazine, California Teachers Association, Austin Burrito Co., and others. His gallery work brightens the hallways of hospitals, universities, restaurants, businesses, and private collections.

John is the VP of the Round Rock Arts Council, serves on the board of the Georgetown Art Works (Georgetown Art Center), and owns the Cordovan Art School and Pottery Parlor.

He worked together with Round Rock Arts to develop the Round Rock Chalk Walk which is now entering its 10th year. The Chalk Walk festival is the largest arts festival in Round Rock, and attracted over 40,000 people last year.

John will create chalk art on Myrtle Lane in real time, while visitors are encouraged to observe and ask questions.

Melissa Slight

Melissa Slight was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Her mother is an artist and taught her everything she knows. Melissa currently lives in Austin where there is never a short supply of creativity and inspiration.

She specializes in Chalk Art but has been making her way through various other mediums as well. She has been doing chalk art for over 9 years and has participated in numerous chalk painting festivals throughout the country. Her main inspiration is the classics. She loves and admires Renaissance art and that inspiration usually makes its way into her work.

Watch Melissa create chalk art on Myrtle Lane, while she works in real time.

TJ Maclaskey

TJ Maclaskey began his career as a self-taught chef and worked his way through private clubs, hotels, casinos and a catering venue. His first award for art was at a culinary competition — a special judge’s award for a tallow sculpture of two knights battling in full armor. He was then invited into an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of art. TJ taught himself to sculpt ice and began a path to become a self-employed artist for over 30 years. Thanks to the foresight of his wife, he carved thousands of sculptures along the way to winning multiple gold medals and becoming a master Ice Artist.

Watch TJ “wow” the street during his live ice sculpting demo during Whimsy & Wonder.

Hope House Residents

Hope House, located right here in Liberty Hill, gives hope to many disabled children and adults who need a permanent place to live.

When parents of a child with special needs can no longer provide care in their own home, they discover that the alternatives are quite limited and often alarmingly institutional. Hope

House offers a better solution–one that would be home-like and joyful, comfortable and happy, a sprawling country home in an inviting and virtually unparalleled environment that is gladly called “home” today, by 40 cherished residents. For these people and their families, Hope House brings genuine promise for a bright future.

Hope House Residents will be onsite at Whimsy & Wonder creating live paintings. Stop by and learn more about Hope House.