We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Celesa Lucien. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Celesa below.
Celesa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
At 27 I was working in the Banking industry in Dallas. I’d gotten into banking while going to college and because my first husband and I had been doing it for years. But I was a creative person, not a left brain thinker. After my divorce, I rode the bus downtown. When I’d arrive at the Bank I often ran first to the restroom feeling like I was falling to pieces.
I met a man that became a steady boyfriend who asked me to move to the mountains in New Mexico, he was a manufacturer’s representative for ski clothing. We migrated to the Southwest but he soon lost his job. So we sold everything, drove to Florida in search of an inexpensive sailboat to sail to Paradise.
Before we left Ft. Lauderdale for the islands I had a prophetic dream. I dreamt I saw something that looked like a rubber dingy but it ended up being a baby whale who smiled at me. I awoke the next morning feeling confident of our crossing the Gulf Stream. We spent seven and one half months sailing the Bahamas in a 26ft sailboat.
Midway through our precarious journey, headed toward Whale Cay we crossed into the blackest, deepest most ominous seas at the tongue of the ocean. With my hand on the tiller, I spotted a water spout and a gray object off the starboard side. I knew it was my dream coming true. We were surrounded by a pod of twenty two pilot whales swimming in pairs or threes with a baby in the middle of a pair. One of the whales came beside the boat, an arms length away. It looked directly at me with its softball size eye, with lashes and hair on its skin. I was awestruck wondering, “did I dream of the whale or did the whale dream of me?” It seemed the whale stared at me with the same recognition and amazement of something predestined.
A few years later, after living in the states again I would return to the theme of the whale dream and create a children’s picture book. I had aspirations of creating a series of books that featured a coyote storyteller and 5 pups who all had different life experiences that lead to an epiphany.
This life changing adventure opened my narrow world up to the quest of living life in the moment with very little concern to the “what if’s” or “can I actually do this?” It awakened in me a life of living on the fringe of societies norms of expected outcomes. I took leaps of faith in almost every avenue of my life. I would go back to live a life in the Virgin Islands as a chef on charter and private yachts. My mother would soon follow me to the islands at age 49 where she met my step father, a two time grammy nominated musician, Jon Lucien, they were married 20 years before his death in 2007.
Eight years after my first divorce, I married a master potter on the bow of a large sailboat in Hawks Nest Bay, St John. I took that path as long as it lasted, but ended up back in New Mexico. With no money to my name but a sweet house in the mountains I started waiting tables. I sent handmade Christmas cards to friends from different sectors of life when a couple who’d been charter guests called to say, “Boy, do we have a man for you.”
They flew me to Memphis, TN to meet the man whom I soon married, a wealthy entrepreneur. He bought a 56 ft Hatteras and put my name, “Sea J” on the stern as a wedding present. We docked it in St.Thomas at Sapphire marina. Later I opened an art gallery, “Tumbleweeds” in Dothan, Al where he had the headquarters for his 17 technical vocational schools. I gave art classes and had special openings for local artists. We had a private plane and opened a restaurant and club, booking live musicians. I created the conceptual designs, menu, and interiors for the restaurant and club.
Long ago I tested at the Johnson O’Connor Institute and was told my special gift was “Ideaphoria” and understood my talent for being a great manifestor. Google search for a Manifestor; “They represent about 9 percent of the population. As natural initiators, their Strategy is to inform those around them of their decisions before they take action. Manifestors have a powerful impact; their closed and repelling aura can make others feel off balance and want to control the Manifestor.”
Living on the edge between not having enough money for underwear or makeup to shopping on Rodeo Drive, I got used to the predictable uncomfortableness of the in-between stage of what I imagined my life could be.
Each transition in life somehow felt like a gestation period between creating a new episode. The big shifts would only come by the “letting go’ or “surrendering” of what I had, to change to something else. But the faith to know the next stage would only come or be complete with my own willingness to let it unfold. I only had so much power on my own. The next direction would come with the intuitive trust that the Universe would provide. I had the secret knowledge that the world most people believe is against them, had a divine source that would provide for my needs by watching for the signs.
I only had to take the initiative to work on the steps it took to get there through focused drive, patience and persistent courage. At a breaking point in that marriage I decided to pack up my Porsche with my wire-haired fox terrier, cat, jewelry box, 2 fur coats and drive from Alabama back to New Mexico. I went in search of a job and became the Gallery Coordinator for the Taos Art Association. This put me in the hub of the art world and in touch with “my clan” of people, the artists. I sold more art in my juried exhibitions in seven and one half months than they had sold in two and one half years.
My next husband walked in the gallery to buy a raffle ticket for a painting. He bought his ticket then sat down by my desk and said, “You know, I’ve always liked that painting at the end of the hall by so and so.” I said, “Well, are you going to buy it or not?” It threw him off guard when he said, “Can I give you a check for half today and come back tomorrow?
I was not yet divorced and couldn’t afford one. I told him I wasn’t ready to get married so we initiated intensive dreamwork therapy work with a Jungian analyst. In time, we married and started an art school, La Puerta Azul and we also taught for Taos Institute of Art.
In 2004 I bought a small cottage on Josiah’s Beach in Tortola, British Virgin Islands after selling the house in Angel Fire, NM that I’d been using for rental income. Unknowingly, the cottage was in the same vicinity of where Jon, my step-father was born. While renovating it I discovered it had been built by Jon’s cousin. With that project complete I decided to renovate a 1976 Airstream. I only hired women tradesmen to finish my “Gypsy Trailer”. I turned 50, worked out in my gym and was in great physical condition. I went on a 3 week Tauck Tour of Italy by myself, because my husband didn’t want to go. We’d both been in our element teaching art to the tourists that came to Taos and spent 10 years together, until it was time for another growth period.
In 2007 I filed for divorce and moved to Florida to be close to my mother when Jon passed less than a week after filing. I then bought a home in Hobe Sound, Florida. It required much renovation and I was motivated to support myself as an Interior Decorator.
In 2014, just months after my mothers passing, I traveled to India four times in four years to study at Oneness University. I studied to be a Siddha Yogi (the ability to manifest in two places) with similar spiritual seekers from all over the world. I was consumed with intense studies and teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda in Kriya Yoga, Kundalini clearing and later Advanced studies with Dr. Joe Dispense. Becoming even more comfortable in the dark void, dropping the dimension of time and space, I became adept at connecting to the Universal Consciousness. The physical plane is only a thinly veiled illusion. All creation is interconnected by the “Love” that creates all things. By shifting your personal energy or frequency of vibration from the attachment to the material world the greater truths of our divine power becomes apparent. Gratitude, the ability to be non-judgmental, letting go of ego attachments, compassion and forgiveness of others has helped me to find joy and bliss in my life. My creative and positive attitude has always gotten me to the other side of any transition of growth which I feel was a necessary journey to inner wisdom.
In February 2020 I moved back to Taos to buy a small adobe house on the Mesa. Unloading just after a snow storm, coming in under the wire of the Covid pandemic, I felt like I had just missed the madness of city life and the hysteria of vaccinations and lock downs. It was a joyful homecoming and time for gardening. The house needed lots of repairs and I painted murals and made art.
Today, I freelance as a muralist, Senior Move Manager and Interior Decorator. My last mural was 23ft x 12 ft. in a dome house. I am single at 67 years old. I still feel my daughter’s age of 45. She is a jewelry designer for her own B.Stellar Jewelry and works as an assistant to Interior Designers in Dallas.
The one lesson I have learned is that the material world we live in is driven by the illusions of our ego. Driven by the social media of unrealistic standards of what popular society says is important. My biggest sufferings occur when I cling to expectations of what I think I want and not allowing the Divine Universe to work out what is best.
We are all master creators. We can become stifled from our personal creative power when we perceive limiting beliefs in what others tell us, or by believing the falsehoods of the ego mind. The mind or thoughts that we perceive as our own are mostly repetitive primal streams of thought generated and regenerated for generations. The monkey mind can chatter unchecked telling us we are not good enough, strong enough, smart enough or capable. The mind uses negative thinking to control our choices to keep us in a safe cocoon but it soon becomes a prison to not truly enjoy our lives. The Universe is constantly creating itself. It is a limitless phenomenon. What we think or believe becomes a world of our creation. The Art of living is experiencing all levels of connectedness. An artist is still a shaman who helps manifest what’s created in it. As we recreate ourselves, so does the world in which we live.
Celesa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I grew up in a creative family. My natural father was an Interior Designer for private aircraft out of Love Field, Dallas, Texas who designed interiors for Faberge’s Learjet, President Nixon’s helicopter to Sylvester Stallone’s travel coach. I often accompanied my father to work to see the process, visit design centers, watch him create renderings and learned how to pick fabric and treatments in design. When in elementary school I checked out every “make-it” book in the library. I was drawing all the time. My mother was a music major and played all the woodwind instruments, piano and was a marvelous vocalist. I was blessed with many creative gifts and talents from them both.
I enjoy a creative challenge and solution for everything tackled. For my clients it is most important to establish trust with a budget and a design to meet their needs. I believe in repurposing as many furnishings or memorable objects they’ve collected to incorporate into the new layout and design.
Sometimes the most difficult part of my job is getting clients past the intimidating scope of personal change. When a home is shifted, the perspective of the person has to shift too. I believe the interior of a home is an outer manifestation of what the client’s energy is inside. It is most important to strip away clutter, old broken or dirty furnishings. They represent blocked energy in the body and mind. To have a clear future and a comfortable atmosphere the client needs to shed what no longer suits the intention for new flow into their life.
One of my favorite client success stories was a lady friend that wanted me to design her outdoor space. But, as I interviewed her she mentioned she was ready to find a love relationship. She’d been single for many years and in her 60’s. She had youthful energy and was full of vitality. I said, “Well let me see your bedroom.” When we walked into her bedroom she aged years and took on the appearance of someone much older. In a non-diplomatic manner I exclaimed, “Well you’re never gonna get laid in here.” She looked at me with surprise and said, “I’m just not ready to tackle this room yet. But, the next day she called to consent.
I compiled a contract with a vision board which she signed and approved the items. I ordered a new bed, found end tables and accessories while we liquidated her mothers old bed, outdated lounge chair, a painting of a deceased dog, etc. When the new items arrived I was ready to start painting and installing. She was stressed, concerned because she was going out of town, reluctant to give up control. I said, “All the better. When you return next week the room will be finished.”
On her Friday return she was thrilled to find the room chic and romantic. Saturday we celebrated with another girlfriend toasting in her bedroom with a glass of champagne and dinner out. Sunday she went to an event. On Tuesday when I saw her at our meditation group gathering, she pulled me aside to announce, “I met someone!” They have been together for over six years. The other girlfriend asked me to help update her home to sell. I did so and she found a new relationship too. They soon bought an older home that I helped them renovate.
I believe that changing the flow or FengShui of a space dramatically changes the events and psyche of its inhabitants. There is much to consider when taking on a client than tastes or desires. It is important to take into account what stage of life they are entering. It is most relative to understand the client’s ability to allow me to help select, initiate and finish the project.
I am not a designer that just selects furniture and new things to replace the old. I find statement pieces like art and textiles that direct the process for a complete flow with depth and layering.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As an Interior Decorator one must always be prepared to pivot. There may be a structural element or problem that needs to be addressed half way through the development. The Decorator is required to view every situation with a new perspective and creative solutions.
A client may like a presentation, say they are ready for the changes but often when presented with the process fear losing control. This can sideswipe a project. It can be frustrating and exasperating to almost get to the finish line and the client looks too soon to see the incomplete dishevelment of their home. Every element affects the next step.
I thought this was something I just struggled with clients but, recently I watched a Netflix Series called “Millionaire Decorators” with Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, Kelly Wearstler, Kathryn Ireland and a couple other decorators. They all had the same obstacles with clients when they questioned their decisions or designs stepping in in the middle of their process. If the client refused to allow the vision to unfold as the decorator intended the results would fall short of the designer’s vision. Every choice a decorator makes relates to the whole scheme to bring together a comprehensive design. We are trained to intuitively recognize when something “feels off” and we adjust along the way. But if a client all of a sudden decides to take away or add an element that wasn’t accounted for in the overall finished look it can throw the whole thing off balance.
It is somewhat like watching a video of Picasso painting on a canvas and he may go over it a dozen times and in the end he scraps the first painting and says, “Now that I know where I am going with this,” he executes the entire painting in a few moments on a new canvas and it feels perfect. Design work is similar to painting. In a painting every element relates to the next level of execution. An old saying goes, “Too many cooks spoil the pot.”
The decorators’ job is to take the space, synthesize your furnishings with new ingredients and make it all come together. We are more than decorators; we are visionaries that can actually see the finished room. We are manipulating space like a wizard conjuring up the unseen into the seen, empty space into flowing rooms that exude comfort, style, and reflect the best qualities for living comfortably for the owner.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In the midst of my divorce, the passing of my step father, while staying with my mother in Florida, I acquired my Decorators License. In the Spring I returned to New Mexico to finish the Airstream. I’d envisioned it as my traveling portfolio as a mobile decorator until I realized how difficult it was to pull a trailer. I’d also thought I could start renovating Airstreams in a secondary market because they were once again popular. I had remodeled the Hatteras years earlier and thought living in Florida would be the perfect place to pick that up again too.
Since I decided to not travel around the country in the trailer I asked a friend to help me haul it to an Albuquerque dealership. I put a sign in the front and back window. Halfway to our destination, in Espanola when we stopped for a hamburger. We parked the truck and trailer in a nearby parking lot. As we were parking a burly guy on a Harley pulled up and said, “I’ve been following you and man, I really like your trailer, can I look inside.” I said, “Of course, but I really made this for a woman, it’s a “Gypsy Caravan”.” He said, “Well I was thinking about it for my girlfriend. He stepped inside and was blown away. But when I told him the price he said he wished he could afford it but said it was worth it. We locked up the trailer as he left and walked to the hamburger joint. As our food was delivered I received a call from a woman. Breathlessly she inquired, “Where are you? We are trying to look inside the trailer but the door is locked. We are very interested in seeing it.”
I told her we were just sitting down to eat our lunch and would be there in a few minutes. She and her husband were surveying the outside of the trailer when we approached. I opened the door. They were both flabbergasted. The man sat down and said, “This is a work of art.” The woman couldn’t contain herself and asked how much I wanted. I told her $14,000. and she asked if we could deliver it to their ranch not far away in Tesuque. She wanted to use it as a guest house for her friends as well as taking it to camping sites. It was the perfect solution. I received my money and did not have to haul it all the way to Albuquerque. I could close one chapter of my life clearing an easy $10,000. This project inspired two of my Taos girlfriends to pick up trailers to renovate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.luciendesigns.com and https://www.celesalucienfineart.com and http://www.jonlucien.com
- Instagram: cjdesign0 and celesalucienart and jonlucien
- Facebook: CJ Celesa Lucien and Celesa Lucien Fine Art and Jon Lucien
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQfvywEpowQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtqfirOwvwo
- Other: Printed articles in 2018 Indian River Magazine, two featured articles on Design work in 2016 and 2017 Stuart Magazine. My home was on Woman’s Club Christmas tour as well as the “Art Is Everywhere” tour in Martin County. I am presently working on a documentary for Jon Lucien, transcribing his recorded memoire. Tina Turner was the god-mother to his daughter Daliah who died in the TWA crash. (My mother meeting Jon was fated when she moved to the Virgin Islands to be closer to me while I was a chef on yachts for private owners in St. Thomas.)