As children, we all have dreams for the future: to become presidents, princesses, bakers, or astronauts. As we get older, however, we often grow out of these dreams. By the time most people enter high school, they have left their childhood fantasies far behind. Artist Natasha Lee ’15 is one of the few who have not.

From a young age, Lee dreamed of attending a culinary school and studying the art of cuisine. She saw how foods—desserts in particular—would always bring her family together and wanted to share this joy with others. Despite her passion for baking and decorating desserts, however, Lee never had the time to make a study of her hobby. Eventually, she came to realize, “I don’t think I’m that good of a cook.”

But Natasha did not let that stop her from preparing desserts. The desserts just changed a bit.

For her art project this year, Lee is preparing a very special dessert table: one made entirely out of clay. Her attention to detail and to various ceramic techniques allows for textural variety, making her sculptures far more realistic than the average clay confection. From gleaming, syrupy strawberries to crisp wafer cookies, these desserts are utterly captivating.

But it’s more than just the mouthwatering realism of her work that leaves an impression.

Her intricate artwork has been motivated by an intriguing wedding theme. Choosing to focus on wedding desserts, Lee has sculpted a gorgeous wedding cake with rich white frosting and blushing flower petals for the imaginary couple’s big day. She decided on this theme because, like desserts, weddings bring people together and are filled with the sweetness of love and joy. “Desserts are always the happy ending to every meal,” she says, “and every wedding should leave a sweet memory.”

In the execution of this art project, Natasha has kept her culinary dream alive, explaining, “I hope by creating something that I love, I will also get to experience the process of making these desserts, making the ceramics room my own dream kitchen.”