Teresa Blackburn Biography

Artistic talent, Luck and Being in the right place at the right time is pretty much the story of my food styling career.  Food Styling found me as a matter of fact when I wasn't even looking! Before food styling, I was part of the world of fine art. Painting, sculpture, collage..a world of puzzle solving and making beautiful objects. Which is pretty much the same thing I get to do each day while food and food prop styling. For the most part my styling work is Still Photography, Video and Print. Television. Cooking Books. Food Magazines. Menus. Web. My food blog, Food on Fifth, has for 4 years been an artistic outlet for all kinds of food creativity, good food & good eating advocacy and food photography as well as a place to share stories about my work. Every now and then I do styling workshops as well as recipe development and testing and work as a media tour contact.

Food Stylist Q & A

How Long have I been a food stylist? 25 years mas o menos

Who are some of your more recognizable clients? Olive Garden, Cracker Barrel, Relish Magazine as well as Ruby Tuesday, O'Charleys, Thomas Nelson/Harper Collins, Bush's Beans, Workman Publishing, Heinz, Whole Foods, Wendys, Patrick Henry, Yazoo Brewery

What did you do before you were a stylist? I was an artist showing in galleries, working part-time in catering.

What initially attracted you to food styling? Truthfully I never considered working as a food stylist initially. As luck would have it, there was an emergency need and I filled it and just fell in love. Food Styling found its way to me, not the other way around. I am convinced that this is why it has worked out so well. It just evolved naturally.

How did you start your career as a stylist? I worked on TV commercials and then the opportunity came along to work on TV Cooking Shows which led to doing Still Photography styling. I  got my first job because the Art Director knew that I had a degree in art, had studied photography and worked in the world of food which was just the "perfect storm".

What do you like best about being a food stylist? There is so much that I like about it...working freelance, getting to play and invent ways of making food look better, solving puzzles every day on the set, hanging out with some really interesting folks. I do believe that it is possible to build a "better mousetrap" over and over again.

Who are some of your favorite food photographers? I have been so lucky to get the opportunity to work with some fantastic photographers. Dan Goldberg, Mark Boughton, Mike Rutherford, Kyle Dreier, Stephanie Mullins among so many others.

What is my favorite food to style? Hmmm. That is a hard one, but I do love to style Burgers, knockout salads, food in a life-style setting, cooking book foods as they are so varied, pies & tarts and definitely drinks!

Do you have a specialty? My specialty in food would probably be cocktails & beers. I just have so much fun making them look icy cold and yummy. My other specialty is laughing...lots of laughs on set. They make all the food and drink look better...no joke!