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‘Cheese Lady’ shows off skills at wine festival

$Sarah Kauffman, the \u201CCheese Lady,\u201D displayed her cheese carving skills at last weekend\u2019s Wine and Art Affair in Uptown Oxford at the Jungle Jim\u2019s tent. Contributed Photo by Samantha Friedman$

Samantha Friedman Sarah Kauffman, the \u201CCheese Lady,\u201D displayed her cheese carving skills at last weekend\u2019s Wine and Art Affair in Uptown Oxford at the Jungle Jim\u2019s tent. Contributed Photo by Samantha Friedman

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By Samantha Friedman, Contributing Writer 5:41 PM Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Nationally recognized cheese carver Sarah Kauffman “The Cheese Lady,” showed off her skills at the Oxford Wine and Art Affair, hosted by the Oxford Chamber of Commerce on  June 26 and 27.

She worked at the Jungle Jim’s tent during the festival and carved Jungle Jim as the reigning tiki god over the cheese jungle. She created Gouda palm trees and a canoe overflowing with cheese samples.

Kaufmann always enjoyed drawing as a kid, and received a degree in Commercial Art Advertising in Madison, Wis. After that, she got a job at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board as a Creative Director creating advertising campaigns and public relations promotions for the Wisconsin Dairy Industry.

It was there, she said, that her interest in cheese carving was inspired. Kaufmann even created a cheese carving training program. After 10 years with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Kaufmann moved to Ohio and started to work at Jungle Jim’s as manager of creative services at the international market in Fairfield. She had such a love for cheese and art that she began to freelance her cheese carvings and began to build her business and hobby into a full-time career.

“I really like getting into doing the art,” Kaufmann said about creating cheese sculptures.

She added that the amazement from people after it’s done is also rewarding and makes it worthwhile. She also really enjoys the artistic aspect of her pieces.

Kaufmann explained that when she is working on a sculpture, she makes facial expressions to mimic the expression of what she is carving because it helps her create the piece accurately.

Since 1996, she has received hundreds of commissions for her creations. She creates pieces in her studios in Cincinnati and San Diego, but she also appears in person to sculpt.

Kaufmann travels around the country carving cheese for all kinds of venues: supermarkets, trade shows, state fairs, sporting events, food and wine festivals and other special occasions.

She uses all kinds of cheese in her creations, but usually defaults to cheddar. Kaufmann also said that she has done cheese carvings of all sizes and weights: from 10 and 40-pound blocks to 500-pound wheels and a 12,500-pound cheddar mammoth.

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