Today we’d like to introduce you to Corianne & Caio Santana.
Hi Corianne & Caio, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We have been living in North County San Diego and also Brazil for the last few years. Corianne is a Southern California native. Caio was born and raised in Goiania, Brazil and has been in California for about five years now. We met almost three years ago and our lives have changed so much since then and in the most amazing ways!
Corianne: I was creative all my life and excelled at all forms of art in school. My favorite way to create was drawing with graphite, but I also loved painting, sewing, and creating with basically anything I could get my hands on. Once I was in high school, I was able to take film photography classes, and at graduation I earned an award for overall art and photography. I was accepted to a photography college, but my parents decided they would only give their support if I chose a “real job” and so I did. I changed focus and my major to becoming a preschool teacher, and I taught for about six years, and then changed again to retail management all the way up until April 2021. Along the way, I borrowed my mom’s digital camera and began learning digital photography and post-production on my own. It took me almost 20 years to finally decide and believe that I could live my passions. I really owe this to my amazing and supportive husband, who believed in me and my creativity from the start and always knew that our lives could not just be about paying bills. Now we have started our collection of all the things we love, Earth Light Magic, and are so excited!
Caio: In Brazil, I earned my degree in Music Production and worked in music studios for years. I also earned my pilot’s license there and would love to fly in the US. I am excited to be creative with my wife, and I am going to learn silversmithing and how to make jewelry with crystals we hand choose and bring back from Brazil. It is so important to me to build the best life for our kids, lead by example, and love our life every day.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Corianne: The struggle is real! Basically, the last 17 years were struggles and obstacles. When I was 18 and my parents had the talk with me about not going to art school, I remember the most distinct crushing heartbreak. When you are a creative person but you have to spend your days doing other things, it feels like there is a hole in your heart. These feelings never left, although I learned to cope and pretend that everything was fine. The eat/work/sleep routine consumed almost all of my time and I suffered incredible mental and physical stress. Once the 2020 lockdowns happened, I couldn’t pretend any longer. I finally had a break in my busy rat race schedule to face the reality that I was not happy, healthy, or really living my life. Deciding to get the help I needed was one of the hardest things I have ever done because unfortunately our society prides us on working hard and being strong, but it was the best decision I could have ever made!
So, I decided to finally pursue my passions and began printing my photos that I had taken over the years. Another hurdle was proving to myself that my art was worthy because I didn’t have any formal degrees in art and had learned all of the digital photography and editing on my own. Plus, I didn’t know where to sell my art! I starting talking to Lizzie of Bliss 101 after my son approached her saying “my mom is a photographer, her art looks like all of the art you have in here!” She was so encouraging to go for it, get my portfolio going, and pursue my work. And after stopping and talking to Jack English of Sea of Seven at his pop-up out in Encinitas a few times, I decided I was going to do a pop-up by myself too. Not really knowing what I was doing, I set up all of my things on my table on the sidewalk in May of this year and just hoped that nobody was going to tell me to leave! Maybe 30 minutes after I set up, Cindy of Art n Soul on 101 came over and asked what the heck I was doing, but then graciously invited me to move my things over and be part of her sidewalk sale she was hosting later that day (whew!). Since then, I have been part of a few local markets, and I am thrilled to be a part of an incredibly supportive city. I’m beyond grateful to get compliments on my work and when someone feels so connected with a photo to take it home, it makes my heart and soul shine!
I remind myself every day that a mistake is only a mistake if you do not learn from it. Although it took what felt like lifetimes to finally pursue my passion, I am grateful every day that I learned from my experiences and can finally say that I am actually living my life!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We view art similarly to how we view music and believe that it can move you and live inside of you. We hope our images make you feel at peace, calm and stir the most meaningful feelings memories for you. We strive for our portraits remind you to love every moment of your life and to remember to enjoy each day with your loved ones, for time passes very quickly. We will soon be making one-of-a-kind jewelry to speak to you too. Our mission and goal for our life, and our business, is to remember to feel love, happiness, and joy every single moment.
What makes you happy?
Waking up every day to our beautiful life makes us very happy! We are beyond grateful to be able to live fully by having our Earth Light Magic shop, it is truly a dream. We find happiness in so many things, big and small, from the love in our hearts for each other, the health and happiness of our kids, our support from our friends and families, and our ability to be artisans in this lifetime.
Contact Info:
- Email: Corianne.santana@gmail.com
- Website: www.EarthLightMagic.com
- Instagram: EarthLightMagic
