Kerry Samantha Boyes is opening a shop packed with the most mouth-watering-looking cakes, pies, jellies and other goodies that you can imagine.
Yet there's a catch. None of it will be edible.
Her ice cream cones recently featured prominently in the beach party scene near the start of the blockbuster “Barbie” movie.
Disney are also customers, as are the Guggenheim Museum, The Royal Worcester Museum, The National Trust for Scotland, Jo Malone, The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Netflix, Heinz and countless others.
Now, for the first time, Ms Kerry Samantha Boyes is inviting the public into her studio overlooking Kirkcudbright Harbour, where she works with her daughter Primrose.
READ MORE: Scottish brand launches new retail boutique at Edinburgh Airport
Together they are creating the UK’s first 'fake food store' - complete with Victorian counters and display cupboards – as part of this year’s Spring Fling.
Running from May 25 to 27, Spring Fling is Scotland’s premier open studios weekend, with a record 104 participants taking part across Dumfries and Galloway this year.
Ms Samantha Boyes started her business on her kitchen table during lockdown, and was partly inspired by a classic book.
She said: “I had bought a copy of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management and loved the lithographs of all the dishes she made – I thought it would be fun to see if I could recreate some of them.
“Then I was looking at similar things online and thought that perhaps I could make things and sell them. I started a little online store and the orders just started to come in. And they were from all over the world."
Her customers have wanted everything from roast goose, peacock pies, and many historical dishes for banquets, to full Scottish breakfasts and even a jelly with a replica gun inside for a party thrown by the makers of hit series The Gentlemen.
Theatres have asked for items like breads, made of foam, that actors can hurl on
stage without injuring anyone.
Kerry added: “I’ve spent many years creating replicas. I began my career on Hadrian's Wall, making facsimiles of Roman altar stones and painting frescos for the Vindolanda Museum.
“I went on to study museums and work for English Heritage caring for their collection. Later I moved to Edinburgh and worked in stone conservation before starting a family.
“Then I trained in taxidermy, so I was familiar with creating work that looked very lifelike. At one point I created a tea party where the fake food had elements of songbirds and roadkill.”
READ MORE: New Edinburgh restaurant 'humbled' to have received thousands of advance bookings
Elsewhere Spring Fling visitors can see everything from paintings, sculptures, photography and original prints to metalwork, furniture, jewellery and textiles.
The weekend is a chance to meet artists and makers working in an array of studios, from farmhouses to painted caravans in one of Scotland’s loveliest rural regions.
Joanna Jones, Upland Assistant Director, said: “Kerry’s fake food shop really underlines what an astonishing range of artists and makers we have here in Dumfries and Galloway.
“This year will be the biggest ever Spring Fling, so it’s a great chance to meet even more of these remarkable people and see the contemporary art and craft they create.”
Spring Fling has arranged bus tours to give visitors the chance to studios in more remote locations – including some of the new studios. They are a chance to relax, let someone else do the driving, meet new people. Places can be booked online.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel