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sarah cook

@saaarachaaa

1.5K

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996

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tofino, b.c
certified grease monkey 🐒 🫡
👩🏼‍🍳: @thedonutgallery

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FAQ: What does it mean to be an artist? 👩🏽‍🎨

I think it’s seeing the world differently. Noticing things others overlook. Finding beauty in the uncomfortable, meaning in the ordinary, and inspiration in unexpected places — It’s having an idea that refuses to leave until you’ve given it somewhere to exist.

But I’ve come to understand that you don’t have to create constantly to be an artist. Artistry isn’t measured by productivity, recognition, or whether you’ve made a career out of your creativity.

Before I ever stepped foot in a kitchen, I was an artist.

I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember, exploring graphite, charcoal, watercolour, India ink, and oil sticks.

Some of my earliest and most cherished memories of art are with my mom. She was one of the first people to encourage my creativity, and I don’t think she’ll ever know how much those moments meant to me.

That encouragement followed me into high school, where I found an art teacher who became one of my greatest mentors.

For years, I was encouraged to pursue visual arts professionally. But I wanted the freedom to create when inspiration found me, without turning every passion into a profession.

My relationship with art has never been particularly consistent. I can obsess over the smallest detail, start an entire piece over, or go months without picking up a pencil.

But that part of me has never really gone anywhere.

Looking back at these pieces feels like meeting different versions of myself. I see the loudness, sensitivity, curiosity, and parts of my personality I didn’t yet know how to recognize.

Some originals have been given away, others lost or damaged. I’m grateful to have these photographs, little pieces of my life I might otherwise have forgotten.

I’ve always dreamed of seeing my artwork hanging in a gallery. Although life has taken me in unexpected directions, that dream has never entirely left me.

So, for now, I’m creating a little gallery of my own. 🖼️ 💛

Not just to share what I’ve made, but to celebrate the artist I’ve always been.

Because being an artist was never something I stopped doing. It was simply something I never stopped being. 🖤

Thank you, xoxo

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Open wide because I’ve got a treat for you! 🦷

Halloween is one of my favourite times of year to express & explore my creativity — not only through flavour, but through concept and design. 🩸🦷

This isn’t just a normal Donut Gallery drop. There are hours of work behind these boxes, from developing each flavour to making every garnish by hand. Every little detail is intentional, and this is exactly the kind of project that reminds me why I love pastry so much.

I am pleased to introduce my 2026 Halloween line…

🦷 SWEET TOOTH MASSACRE 🦷

Friday, October 30th - afternoon/evening Tofino pick up available.

12 mini donuts. Four flavours. One very questionable trip to the dentist.

🍿 Caramel Popcorn Tooth Decay
🧠 Strawberry Brain Matter
👻 Cardamom French Ghost
🍫 Chocolate Malt Monster Cookie Dough

Limited boxes available — and when I say limited, I mean limited.

Pre-order @ www.thedonutgallery.ca

__________________________

Where pastry falls in love with art… and apparently gets murdered. 🩸
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#Tofino #TofinoBC #TofinoEats #VancouverIsland #VancouverIslandEats

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Season is ending, you know what to do!!! 2.0

Time to run it back and clear our the closet :)

Sunday, September 27th
4 pm - 8 pm

Bring cash ☆ Manifest good finds ❀ Hang with the homies ☻

#tofinothrift #tofino #thedirtymaq #thrifted #traveltofino

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NOW ACCEPTING CAKE ORDERS 🎂💗

Apparently I’ve entered my cake era.

The Donut Gallery has always been about taking flavours, ideas and a little bit of chaos and turning them into something edible — and lately, I’ve been having way too much fun doing that with cake.

So, I’m officially opening my books for custom cake orders.

🍰 Classic layer cakes
🍦 Homemade ice cream cakes
🍩 Giant yeast-risen donut cakes
🎂 Individually decorated cake portions

Everything is made from scratch and designed around your favourite flavours, occasion and general vibe — with a little creative freedom left for me to make it uniquely yours.

Pretty, weird, nostalgic, elegant, ridiculous, spooky… I’m game.

Available in 4”, 6” & 9”, with pricing based on size, flavour and design.

DM or email sarah@thedonutgallery.ca for more information ❣️🫶🏻

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#TheDonutGallery #TofinoBC #TofinoEats #CustomCakes #VancouverIsland

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Beach Days Like This >

Beach Days Like This >

Beach Days Like This >

Golden Girl ☀️

Momma Scuba 🤿 @journeyofalexa_

Beach Days Like This >

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Dear, Dandy’s Artisan Ice Cream

In Grade 10 English, we were assigned an essay about a hero in our lives.

I remember feeling ashamed because I couldn’t think of anyone. I grew up incredibly sheltered and knew very little of the world outside my own. I had dreams, but I hadn’t met anyone who showed me what was possible yet.

I asked Ms. Hall if I could write about myself instead. I’d been through a lot, made sacrifices, and I was proud of myself.

Looking back, that 15-year-old girl wasn’t wrong.

She just hadn’t met her hero yet.

My hero is Daniela, from Dandy’s Artisan Ice Cream.

@dandysartisanicecream was my second kitchen job out of high school. I joined only a few months after you opened, knowing basically nothing. You took me under your wing, and eventually I had the honour of becoming your kitchen manager.

You taught me professional skills, but more importantly, you showed me what it looked like to unapologetically be yourself. To dress for yourself. Create for yourself. Express yourself for you, not anyone else.

You showed me that flavour could be more than food. It could be art, nostalgia, humour, personality and self-expression.

You believed in my dream and gave me opportunities to learn, experiment and flourish. Without you, I genuinely don’t believe The Donut Gallery would exist.

Dandy’s meant so much to me that I even tattooed my two favourite flavours — Blueberry Pie Crumb and Pistachio — on my body. What I thought was an ice cream tattoo became a permanent reminder of a chapter that helped shape who I am.

I’m devastated to see Dandy’s close, but what you created doesn’t disappear when the doors do.

You took a young girl who knew almost nothing, believed in her ideas, and gave her room to become herself.

She became a pastry chef and built The Donut Gallery.

If Ms. Hall gave me that assignment today, I finally know who I’d write about.

Thank you, Daniela. For believing in me before I knew what I was capable of — and for unknowingly giving that Grade 10 girl someone to write about after all. 🤍

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A little piece of The Donut Gallery, circa 2020
Sometimes I miss the girl who made all of this just because she loved it.

She didn’t know if it would work.
She didn’t know where it would take her.
She definitely didn’t know how much life was about to change.

She just had an idea and kept following it.

I’ve walked away from The Donut Gallery more than once. I’ve questioned it, outgrown parts of it, changed everything around it and wondered if maybe that chapter of my life was over.

But somehow, I always find my way back.

And looking at these photos now, I think I understand why.

There’s a piece of me in this that I don’t want to lose.

The part that gets too excited about an idea.
The part that makes things unnecessarily complicated.
The part that believes something can exist just because I can picture it.

I started this when I was 19.

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

I’m really glad she did it anyway. 🍩

Exciting new ideas are yet to come, thank you to all who have supported me throughout all these years! 🫶🏻

📸: @matteblackphotos
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#tofino #exploretofino #donuts #pastry

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Week 26 & 27 & 28 - MUP slut

Ukee Aquarium

Ey buddy

Megan’s engagement party

Closing time

Everything pink

Beautiful

My girl

Outstanding sofas

These two

Twister

🗡️🌕🏆

Away from the desk

Bierhaus bevs

Glowy and gorgeous

Poopgate

My wife for 13 years

Queen

Gym views

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FAQ: Do you regret getting your neck tattoo so young?

I got my neck/chest tattoo shortly after turning 19.

Technically, it started as a cover-up for some dumb font teenage me thought was cool. 😂 But in high school, a teacher told me if I ever tattooed my neck, I’d never be able to become anything.

I never forgot that.

Then one morning I woke up and thought, yup, I’m getting a neck tattoo.

I brought a rough design to a shop a few blocks from my house, where I met Chris. @kingxoaks // @oaksblacksmith He altered my design to work with the way the neck moves and compresses. To me, it’s the flower of life. Everyone asks if it’s a lotus or rose, but neither of us actually knows. 😂

I only had a handful of arm tattoos. Your neck is usually one of the last places you tattoo—I wanted it to be one of my first.

Everyone had opinions.

Too young. I’d regret it. I’d never get a good job. I’d never be successful looking like this.

That’s when it started meaning more.

I didn’t want to look like somebody’s idea of success. I wanted to become successful on my own terms.

Eight years later, this tattoo feels so much like me—loud, colourful, creative, impulsive and stubborn.

The only part I hate is being told I look intimidating. Something that feels so much like me can make people decide who I am before I even speak.

I chose how I look. I didn’t choose what people would assume that meant.

Not long after getting it, I visited my mom in the hospital just before she passed. It was the first time she saw all my tattoos.

She did not approve. 😂 She told me I’d regret them.

Little did she know, she was part of the reason I pursued this design.

I’m so grateful she got to see me wearing it.

Looking at these photos, I see a 19-year-old who had no idea where life would take her—she just knew other people weren’t going to decide what she was capable of.

So no, I don’t regret it.

My only regret is a lifetime of:

“DID THAT HURT?!”

Yes. 😂❤️

(But the stomach hurts more.)
___________

#yqr #yqrartist #tattoo #necktattoo #tofino

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Rumpus

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Week 21 Middle 🪩

You look a bit like a shrimp

Tree jumpers

Chesterman

Taylor River

Staff orientation

I am orientated

Anyone want a beer?

The Beep Boops

I like money, fancy shit

Close your eyes if your having fun

Full moon party

Gary’s

Cuddle buddy

🧍

New room

Sophie is back

🔥

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