Meet Vanessa Reyes | Metalsmith & Cyanotype Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vanessa Reyes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vanessa, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve always possessed a creative spirit, and growing up I constantly explored new crafts and ways to express myself. I will always be drawn to mixed mediums but right now I’ve found that creating handmade Jewelry collections and Cyanotype photographic art is my current calling. I knew that if I wanted to take myself and my practice more seriously, I needed to create my own business, and that is how Combine & Create Studios was born. For me, art is more than creating a single brand and a single product. I continually strive to find a balance between business and play, making sure that I never loose my artistic freedom, while still being able to pay the bills. I wanted to be more than just a brand, instead, an ever evolving artist who shares their craft with the world. I knew my future was going to be more fluid and remote that the normal 9-5 city life, so I wanted to create a business that was able to travel with me wherever I went. I am a naturalist and I will probably end up on some rural homestead, so I will eventually need my work to be fully dependent on remote sales. So, needing to expand my reach, I began doing art markets around San Diego. This lasted for about three years. I was able to grow my following and at the same time was working really hard to create an online platform to sell my work, both on my website and on Etsy. As my work grew in popularity, I decided to establish a commercial art studio in 2018 which was open to the public. Having a dedicated studio where I could both create and sell my art gave me the stability to really hunker down and build my collections. With a storefront, I have had the opportunity to meet so many great clients. I have since branched out to retail shops across San Diego as well as many museums. Having my work sold by other people has given me the time and space to return to my artistic play and spend less time as an actual retailer. Of course we need to be on top of our numbers and cultivate future opportunities, but “hustle culture” can be extremely toxic, and if you’re not careful you can loose your artistic way of life. If you can find ways to spend less time on the business end, it will be a lot easier on your creative flow. My hope is to continue to share my art with as many retailers as my capacity allows, and to really grow my online sales globally.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Combine & Create Studio is a multi-medium space that showcases both my metalsmith jewelry collections and cyanotype art works. I never wanted to put a limit on my creativity by choosing one medium to work with. All of my work is an extension of myself and is ever evolving. My jewelry collections are inspired by my love of nature and my connection to my heritage. I have been fascinated with stones and coins from around the world since I was a child. Once I picked up my first torch, I was hooked by the alchemical process of transformation. By creating something beautiful from base materials, by using fire, metal, and natural treasures, my hope is that when you wear a piece of my jewelry, you feel a little more connected to your inner primal self and to the earth around you. Similarly, my Cyanotype works are photographs from my adventures in nature which I transform through this elemental printing process which harnesses the power of the sun, earth, air, and water. When I explore the trails of our national parks, I am constantly amazed at the beauty of the natural world. I try and capture these fleeting moments and put them on paper to share them with the rest of the world. The Cyanotype photographic process stands apart from other forms of photography because it is surprisingly non-toxic. Created by early botanists in the 1840’s who used chemistry and sunlight to document plants in the field without sophisticated equipment, the history of this medium it intimately tied to nature. I strive to continue that legacy with my own landscape photographs and botanical prints.

What you are most proud of or excited about?
Wanting to be closer to nature and prove to myself that I had what it takes to be a working artist, I took the leap of faith and moved to Seattle and went to Cornish College of the Arts. This was a huge step for me as I left behind the familiarity of San Diego and set off to a new city. There, I was ready to take my art career to a whole new level and explore a completely different natural environment. This was exciting and scary as I had zero connections up north. As I progressed in school I created meaningful relationships with fellow artists and professors that still inspire and encourage me today. I am so proud that I took this leap of faith and graduated with my Bachelors in Fine Art in 2016, having majored in photography and minored in environmental sciences. This time away from my hometown gave me the independence I needed and also the confidence that the artist lifestyle was for me. I have since moved back to San Diego (I will always love the sun and the sea), but will always hold space in my heart for the snow capped mountains and moss covered forests of Washington.

Was it easy?
As a first generation Chicana (Mexican American) the road to entrepreneurship is never easy or even recommended. I come from a very humble background with little to no capital to start my art business, but one thing I did inherit was “ganas” meaning “desire/will” in Spanish. My belief is that the effort you put into your dreams is the amount you will receive back. The universe is a cycle of give and take, and we need to trust that things will always work out. There will be ebbs and flows in your business but if you adapt to the challenges, even they can turn into opportunities.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
San Diego is such a diverse place with so much to do, but my go to’s are always nature, food, and culture. First stop would be to Sunset Cliffs in Ocean beach for a refreshing ocean dip or a sunset picnic (depending when they land). Then, being the creatives that we are, we would go to Barrio Logan to visit the art studios and see the murals at the iconic revolutionary Chicano Park, and visit and support the museum for a brief history lesson. Then, if time allowed, a day trip out to Cuyamaca State Park to hike Stonewall Peak for epic San Diego mountain and deserts views. From there, straight to Julian for some apple pie and ciders. Finally a trip to San Diego wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Convoy to eat at one of the hundreds of asian restaurants. Korean BBQ or hand sliced Chinese noodles are some of my favorites but the options are endless.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many creatives and supportive non-profits that help emerging artists like myself and I would love to give a big Shoutout to Barrio Art Crawl, All For Logan, Bread & Salt, Chicano Park Museum, San Diego Made, and many more in our community. Barrio Art Crawl happens every second Saturday of the month, where there are gallery openings and open studios to visit. Come down for a stroll and support. You can find my studio in The Art Hub in Barrio Logan, the arts and cultural district of San Diego.

Website: https://combineandcreate.com

Instagram: @combineandcreate

Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CombineandCreate