Artist Maggie Austin has always had a love affair with intricate art forms. By the time she was 4 years old, her future career as a professional dancer was already in motion. Her formative years were spent steeped in dance and surrounded by elaborate costumes, classical music, and artistic expression.
It was the start of a creative journey that would pirouette its way into new and unexpected chapters.
From Ballet to Baking
Austin had to pivot from dancing when an injury in 2006 forced her into early retirement. “I had been in [dance] training for decades. I had no other experiences,” she says.
At that time, she was dancing with The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. The Windy City also happens to be home to The French Pastry School, and, despite her lack of knowledge beyond the studio and stage, Austin had baked a little. “The program was only six months, and the idea of total immersion in a training program seemed similar to ballet,” recalls Austin.
From fouettés to flour, Austin dove in. Two weeks of bread. Two weeks of chocolate. Two weeks of wedding cakes. It was a crash course in the art and science of dessert.
But Austin says she didn’t excel. “I found I was a poor student. But I finished the program, and I bought myself a little kit to make gum paste flowers.”
It was then Austin realized her learning wouldn’t come in a classroom or a kitchen. Instead, it would come from struggling on her own to create one sugary petal at a time.
Taking the Cake
A 2009 move to the Washington, DC, area brought Austin closer to her sister, Jess Rapier, who had a similar dance and theater background. The two women, both with talents suited for the stage, decided their calling was in cake.
In 2010, they started their business.
“I made a few flowers and cakes to take pictures of. I built a website — and this was before the days of easy templates,” says Austin. “I made one cake for a wedding planner in DC who had a successful blog, and they shared us on that blog.”
“Two weeks later, we got a call from the Today show. And I’d never even stacked cake tiers!” she says.
The duo had been invited to participate in a Today show competition among vendors for a couple’s wedding. They weren’t chosen as the final selection for the wedding cake, but it gave them the vote of confidence to continue on their path.
Almost immediately after the show, they booked a wedding — and then another, and another. “We were embraced by the DC-area wedding community,” says Austin.
Together, they found their talents worked together like a beautifully choreographed dance. “From the very beginning my role was to support Maggie in any way I could,” says Rapier. “That meant a steep learning curve for both of us and a very clear division of labor.”
The Precision of Pastry
Following that early success, the sisters opened an Old Town Alexandria studio — called Maggie Austin Workshop — in a Victorian home. Austin lived upstairs, worked downstairs, and honed her skills as an artist and baker in the commercial kitchen they added to the home.
They were baking cakes, working on a cookbook (Maggie Austin Cake: Artistry and Technique), and teaching cake decorating and gum paste floral design classes. “In the early days, we were, frankly, driven by our sheer will to survive,” says Rapier. “Today, we continue to focus on what truly lights Maggie up as a person. Finding that delicate balance requires both agility and a stubborn dedication to the work.”
The teaching has resonated most deeply with Austin. “This industry attracts perfectionists and always has. Pastry is about precision. I want to break that ingrained thought,” says Austin, who prides herself on being an empathetic, peaceful presence in the classroom.
Rapier agrees that Maggie excels as an instructor. “I have seen countless students transformed by a single workshop where they learn to be present and simply let their minds get out of the way while the work takes center stage. I am also a yoga teacher, and I credit Maggie with inspiring me to share a similar message of empowerment through letting go of ego and embracing the process.”
Austin is also thrilled to see more non-career bakers take her classes. “These are people who are amazed with what they can do with a little bit of patience and guidance. This is their self-care — to create something beautiful.”
Outside of teaching, Austin takes on a few select cake projects each year. She works with some of the top talents in the wedding industry from across the world and will often travel internationally to deliver the cakes in person.
“This has become an opportunity to be inspired by these amazing people who are at the top of their game,” says Austin.
Art With Permanence
Since 2020, Austin has also been focusing her artistic energy on works with more permanence. She and her husband, Robert Lusk, create architectural elements and details that are rooted in handmade craft and detail.
“I have never seen two people so gifted at what they do, and they continue to surprise me with the breadth of their talent,” Rapier says.
Their creations include custom gold-leaf transoms and ornate ceiling medallions as well as custom steel furniture, antique factory window restoration and installation, and gold gilding. “There is so much overlap in the design aesthetic between the architectural elements and the wedding cakes. It feels like a natural progression,” says Austin.
Austin also paints and creates custom clay sculptures.
Lusk’s background reads like a true renaissance man. He’s been a car mechanic, a sign painter, a welder, and a carpenter. He specializes in creating the gold-leaf transoms and is the structural mind behind the couple’s projects.
Austin says there is quite a bit of trial and error involved in the process, but that’s how their creative minds prefer to work. “Are there ways to make this less labor intensive? Probably, but that’s not the way we roll,” says Austin, who’s committed to art over speed.
For example, each ceiling medallion is sculpted in clay, made into a mold, then cast in plaster. It’s not necessarily the most efficient manner of building, but it’s the traditional way these pieces are built to stand the test of time.
“Our goal is to bring incredibly personal elements into a client’s home. We’re working with people to bring out these meaningful details,” says Austin.
The couple hopes to grow their architectural business and take on bigger, more expansive projects. They want to add new, intricate details while being respectful of the home’s history.
“We always want to tie in elements that are existing in the home, whether those are historic or not,” says Austin. “We’re respectful of the home, and every house has gone through stages. We’re mindful of where it stands now.”
Through all of its iterations, Austin’s artistic portfolio features common themes: focus, repetition, attention to detail, and layers.
“I appreciate the beauty in a certain line, taper, or flow — and that’s regardless of medium,” she says. “I’m just fortunate I’ve been able to take the time to have all of these creative moments.”
Feature image courtesy Maggie Austin Studio
This story originally ran in our June issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
