Letters From My Art #2 Anyone Can Cake

(This is Letter #2 written for November 2025 - I am slowly uploading previous Letters as I take this project from analog to digital.)

So often I find that memories can linger quietly in the periphery of my mind, then echo when I need to hear them the most. Writing these fleeting thoughts down has been wonderful. I hope you enjoy reading them in my letter project.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been pondering the many ways we show our love through simple kindness and how often this is done through the unique voice of food. This is the memory that came to me...

We had just moved into our current house; my children were aged 3 and 7, and we had a 12-week-old puppy and two kittens. It was CRAZY. To say I was feeling a little overwhelmed would have been a huge understatement.

One day, the doorbell rang, and I opened it to a friend from my youngest daughter’s playgroup. This friend was a mother of three, with a busy household and her own kids to feed.

“I’m not staying, I’m just dropping this off,” she said as she bustled into my kitchen and put a foil-covered tray onto the counter.

“There’s a note with cooking times, and I’ve printed off a few of my favourite quick recipes”.

When I peeked under the foil, tears came to my eyes. Underneath was a roasting pan, complete with a leg of lamb, peeled and cut vegetables, and all the perfect seasonings, ready to slide into the oven. She had even baked a cake.

This kindness, this generosity, and this selfless gift were incredible at a time when I felt so exhausted. It said, ‘I see you’re struggling, and I care.’

That gesture has stayed with me all these years. When I began to dream about writing these letters and sending them out into the world, and taking steps to collate my art into a book, I kept returning to this moment of generosity. That’s the feeling I hope I’m mailing to you; I want Letters From My Art to feel like a gift, a small act of generosity in your day, a piece of art, a story, a recipe, something tangible and gentle in a world often too loud, too busy, and too fractured.

My artwork, ‘Anyone Can Cake’, seemed the perfect print for this month’s ‘Letters From My Art’. You can order a copy of this print in a number of sizes from small to large, and in paper and stretched canvas here. It’s about the language of food. We turn to food for comfort, for distraction, to say ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I see you’, to express gratitude or affection. Sharing food is a universal language that has been used in societies worldwide throughout history. If food has ever spoken for you, this print is for you. You know wholeheartedly that food can be a love language, and that you belong to a tribe—a community of food lovers who find meaning and connection in every meal. The original oil painting was sold as a reminder of happy family times.

The recipe this month is a simple vanilla cupcake. I’ve baked hundreds of cupcakes over the years, for birthday parties, school events, picnics, especially when my girls were younger. November is my youngest daughter’s birthday month, so it’s especially fitting this letter was written for November. I stumbled across Recipe Tins’ recipe quite recently, and though I have made a few little tweaks out of pure laziness (!), it’s the best cupcake I’ve ever made. My girls have heartily enjoyed my renewed baking enthusiasm, taking us right back to their primary school days.