The Amazing Jell-O Sculptor

Artists use different mediums to express their creativity. For some its milk bottles, while for others, it's trick photography. San Francisco based photographer and sculptor Liz Hickok's medium of choice? Jell-O - The perfectly moldable gelatin dessert.

Her love affair with the wobbly medium began about four years ago, when she was looking for a suitable material to build a cityscape sculpture of San Francisco. She considered using resin - but besides being difficult to use, it was also very toxic. That's when she came up with the idea of using yummy, malleable multi-colored Jell-O, beginning her unusual career as a Jell-O sculptor.

Her inaugural cityscape sculpture created in 2006, included the entire downtown of San Francisco, complete with skyscrapers, a number of popular San Francisco neighborhoods including the Marina and Twin Peaks, as well as, famous landmarks like the Bay Bridge and Palace of Fine Arts.

Since then, she has created several other Jell-O cities, including Scottsdale, Arizona and Wilmington, Delaware and also done a Jell-O project with some lucky second-graders in North Adams, Massachusetts.

To create her amazing landmarks, the artist starts with scale models of what she wants to reproduce and then, with the help of molds, casts each section in Jello-O. To make the cities look real, Liz paints landscapes like trees and mountains around the structures, and in the case of San Francisco or should we say Jello-O Frisco, she even added some fog! Top this with some beautiful lighting and voila - we have a shimmering (and shaking) edible city!

The only setback to her masterpieces is that they don't last too long. However, Liz does take some great photos, which can be seen and bought at : www.lizhickok.com.