Here Comes the Sun (Original Acrylic Painting by Kim Testone)

"Here Comes the Sun," acrylic on panel, 20" x 30. Professionally framed in a contemporary white floater frame. Based on a real-life gingerbread house/sugar cookie/frosting model that I baked and decorated and then replicated with acrylic paint in the trompe l'oeil style. This means that the painting is virtually flat, but it is painted in a way that looks amazingly three-dimensional and highly realistic in its details. 

"Here Comes the Sun" features a whimsical gingerbread house set amongst a field of overgrown cookie greenery and flowers and a few giant swirly lollipops, with a bright yellow cookie sun hovering within the swirly blue frosting sky. This was the first piece from my trompe l'oeil series that I designed, at a time when I knew I wanted to use a gingerbread house and cookies, but wasn't quite sure how. I literally built the full small gingerbread house first and let it sit on my counter for probably a week, just staring at it. Eventually, I thought, I'm a pretty good trompe l'oeil painter, what if I just chopped off the back? So I sawed off the back two-thirds of the house and began arranging it with the cookies I'd baked.

Like most of my foodscape paintings, I wanted this piece to stand for hope. The whimsical nature of the design demonstrates an existence that has perhaps become a bit overwhelming, surrounded by a homestead that is seemingly a bit neglected, with overgrown greenery and oversized flowers and lollipops. There isn't a clear path to the imaginary door. But the sun, in all its optimistic glory, gives the scene a semblance of hope, as well as warmth and the satisfaction that even when things aren't perfect, joy can still be found. 

For those who wonder why I use cookies and frosting as the basic for these foodscapes, I really wanted the works to be accessible to a wide range of people. Using food elements, and particularly recognizable sweet treats, allows an easier entry point for viewers to enjoy and thoughtfully consider the work, even children.

Be sure to check out these TiKTok videos featuring the process and side views of "Here Comes the Sun":

- Painting and design process for Here Comes the Sun.
- Side views of some of my trompe l'oeil cookie landscape paintings.

Questions? Please feel free to contact us here. 

Prints of this piece are available here.