PROOF of nomadic blood (or, Can I just stop already??)

Sometimes in life, we have to realize that we just have to work with what we're given. And also realize that while it's important to follow our hearts and our dreams, those dreams might be a little farther off than we planned.

So, again, I am switching directions (again? didn't I already abandon being an artist before to pursue being a circus and burlesque performer?) This isn't to say I'm giving up or not pursuing art as a career any longer. But dammit, being a single adult in a crumbling economy where everyone has barely enough to support themselves is hard enough as it is, and I'm in limbo. Tired of day jobs that are either too stupid and degrading to be working at (i.e. current desk job) or they are for people looking for a barely paying hobby (i.e. pretty much any creative job, gallery or art organization) but not financially stable (or crazy enough) to just quit my job and hope people will buy enough of my art to keep me going. Not to mention, framing is hella expensive (unless I'm lucky enough to find one that fits at an estate sale), and ceramics, at least to start up, is also hella expensive. I considered going back to school to continue my ceramics education and further my self-taught illustration skills, but what then? And not just "then" - what about when I'm 50? Granted, by then the world's clean drinking water will be reduced to 1/3, and I won't really care about paying my bills if I'm competing for basic survival alongside 8 billion other human beings...

So I'm starting my plan B now, and continuing my plan A sporadically, at maybe a lesser pace. It might sound like I'm taking the safe way, but I have a lot to lose..maybe other people don't.

I am going to pursue my other passion, which, up until now was more of a hobby. I am going to become a pastry chef specializing in vegan, raw and gluten-free and eventually open my own bakery/gallery (low-key gallery, like art shows every two months.) This was a dream I had floating around in the back of my head for 7 years, and I think it's time to make it a reality.

I myself have a sweet tooth, but also a plumper-than-necessary figure; so I generally enjoy baking, sampling, then hurriedly giving the remainders away before my clothes start shrinking. The funny thing is, when I was younger (11ish) I wanted to be a baker. I used to watch Martha Stewart with my mom and I would make glazed pears with french toast, or goat cheese cheesecake with fresh berries from scratch all by myself. When I moved out, I took the plunge into veganism and with that came vegan baking. My first victim was Mark Heggie. Incidentally, the banana bread I made him wasn't vegan, but everything from then on was. Eventually I think the other boys at Big Top wanted a piece of the cake (ha, literally) so it became my get-out-of-telling-a-joke-free card. It worked out - I got to try different recipes and perfect my craft, and they got to fill their bellies with delicious, cruelty-free goods.
What made me want to perfect and sometimes improve vegan recipes with such fervor was when I walked into an unnamed coffee shop and they had these wimpy, flat looking discs they had the audacity to call "Vegan  Oatmeal Cookies!" I was outraged - no wonder people are afraid to try vegan things! Was my secret ingredient love, or rage? I don't know, but the outcome was delicious. I made it a game of tricking naysayers...people with prejudice against anything baked without eggs, milk and butter. If I didn't fool them, I still surprised them at how good it was.

Maybe I go over the top sometimes, like bringing in a batch of (always made from scratch) chocolate-banana-brownies and maple-walnut-ginger blondies to trump everyone's processed-food-coloring-injected-artificially-flavored-store-bought "cupcakes" at the office (sorry guys, I'm kind of an elitist sometimes, I know.) Sometimes, baking is a little like the crusades, ok?

And, as much as people like Paula Dean amuse me ( BAHAHA ), I think it's possible to indulge a sweet tooth without nosediving into diabetes and heart disease. So if a mission is what I need, a mission is what I have. I am going to learn to create delectable baked goods with wholesome ingredients and as little, if any, refined sugars as possible. I'd like to cater to vegans, raw foodists and the gluten-free. It's not a new or innovative idea, but it'll be just one more available choice for those of us trying to make better ones.

To get my foot in the door, I'll need some schooling to supplement what I've already taught myself (it's also harder to get jobs without some kind of professional experience or education), and I think between my backgrounds in ceramics and illustration, I should be able to kick ass with cake decorating - sculpting fondant and designing swirls of icing and ganache. I'll also have to build a portfolio, so expect a lot of bustle in the kitchen (maybe I can use mum's Martha Stewart-esque kitchen out in shelby...) And when I'm done and have some kind of career path started, I'll go back and finish that damn bachelor's degree. By then, maybe they'll have forgotten about that $12,000 I owe them?

So here I am, 27, starting from scratch (god I am loving these puns...)
I'm feeling optimistic.

A February wind brings new things..

I really haven't been keeping up with this thing...at all. I swear I will try harder! (I mean, does anyone out there read this anyways??) 

Anywho, some new things going - I currently have work up at Woods Gallery (www.woodsgallery.org) with 8 other artists for the "Dear John Exhibit." The opening was great! I got to see some of my favorite faces, as well as some new ones, and it was wonderful to see everyone else's work - the variety of styles and interpretations of the show's theme came together to create a really excellent body of work. 

I'm going to be taking some time to focus on learning new things, experimenting, playing with different concepts, etc., so this year you can expect less frequent sitings of me, but know that I have some good stuff coming your way! 

I sometimes get called a jack (or jill?) of all trades. Some know me initially as a fire/circus sideshow/burlesque performer. For awhile I worked with some of you as a makeup artist for fashion/conceptual photography. And some know me as an amazing procurer of vegan goods. But let's get back to art.. 

I primarily work with ceramics and illustration (either oil/acrylic on wood or watercolor/ink on paper.) More and more I would like to not only meld those two - doing more illustration on ceramic forms - but branch out into different materials. Bone, metal, found objects, and perhaps use other sculptural materials like papier mache. So here are some projects that I currently have underway:

I have been playing around here and there with some amateur taxidermy endeavors (totally bummed because I found a dead bird in the parking lot and forgot to grab it - it was a perfect specimen, too. I imagine the poor guy just got hit by a car or something mid-flight?)

I also have a story I am writing, which is on the backburner for now, but I hope to turn it into a storybook for adults. 

Mugs! I will have skull mugs, travel mugs and all kinds of drinkware *hopefully* by fall! These will be in my etsy shop, which is currently empty...so sad. 

Once it gets warm, I will be doing some more ceramic work. Slowly collecting materials to start doing pit-firing, raku-firing and who knows what else. It sure will be a good way to start spring!

I love working with paperclay! Recently, I got the idea of doing a few pieces inspired by pop-up books but making them out of paperclay. These would be fired, glazed, and then I'd like to get back into making decals. In my head it's rather interesting, but I have a lot to learn before this happens. 

I do a lot of reading, and I've been inspired by this book called The Waste Makers by Vance Packard. The book (published in 1963) basically breaks down how marketing and advertising had created a wasteful society that was profitable for these corporations but detrimental to the environment and also how it changed people's mentality and behavior by creating material needs where previously there had been none. I also read Tales of Outer Suburbia, a graphic novel by Shaun Tan, which was beautifully illustrated and written, and it reminded me of the power that art has to tell a story, to lift spirits, to inspire change. 

A piece by Australian contemporary glass/multimedia artist Tom Moore.

7STU7 - Jobless/ Banksy edit

I am so in love with this track by the way, it's so effing hype!

Welcome to my blog, jerks!

So I've decided to start a blog for posting pictures, events, sketches, yadda yadda yadda.

A little about me if you don't know...
I am a ceramics and illustration artists (dabbling in other media forms here and there) with a degree in progress from the College for Creative Studies.


Born in Barcelona, Spain to a Spanish mother and Indian father, I grew up in Syracuse, NY with a very rich cultural background. My grandfather, Marc Aurelio Saleta, was a freelance artist outside of his accounting job. His beautiful drawings inspired both my older sister and I, who would carry on the artist's blood in our veins.

By the time I reached highschool, I felt very overshadowed by my older sister's drawing and painting talents and decided to try something different. I took a '3D Art' class and was hooked on ceramics and metal. By my senior year, I knew this is what I wanted to choose as a career path, by any means possible.

I took some basic credit classes at MCC and then moved on to CCS. In that time, I also travelled a bit, to Egypt, Japan and Mexico; visually collecting things that would greatly influence my work.  

After a couple years at CCS, I decided to take a break for personal and financial reasons, and somehow got mixed into a world of burlesque and circus performers. I began hula hooping until I found my real passion - fire. For 3 years I have been a burlesque and circus performer - doing fire eating acts, spinning fire fans, stiltwalking and eating broken glass. I performed with members of the Fire Fabulon, Detroit Fire Guild, Bacchanal Promotions, Spag burlesque and am one of the original members of the Detroit Dizzy Dames.

For now, I am taking the backseat to performing and focusing on establishing a career path with my art and going back to school!


So there's my life, up till now. It's been a crazy ride and I'm ready for the next adventure. :)