We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Celeste Archambault. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Celeste below.
Celeste, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
My mom has always been the creative type. She is the “I can make that myself” kind of person, and because of that, art and overall creative thinking has always been present in my life.
Some people had the duct tape dad, but my mom was the hot glue gun mom. She’s a real master with the hot glue gun let me tell you. Inch by inch hot-gluing twine into a spiral pattern on the base of each kitchen chair…it was an idea alright. My favorite part of the holidays approaching were the trips to craft stores, because she always had some new idea for a holiday tree theme that she could do herself. One time, she meticulously painted an entire wall in our home with a single 8×8 inch paisley printed stencil and it was nailed perfectly. She always dedicated so much time and effort into making wherever we lived unique. Karen learned how to knit, she’s made wall hangings out of reclaimed Jewelry, she went through a wreath phase, and I always had such creative homemade Halloween costumes (even if she had to commission an experienced sewer to complete her dream; the itsy bitsy spider costume is still a hit in my book). Karen is a real hobby hopper if you know what I mean. I inherited that from her. I always remember her being praised for her out of the box thinking, and honestly I admire her for that too.
Outside her own creativity though, the most important and impactful thing she’s done is never once has she ever said anything remotely discouraging about pursuing creative and artistic endeavors. In fact it was quite the opposite.
Sure my childhood wasn’t perfect and there were some big struggles, but Karen always bragged about her kids creativity. She never failed to refer to us (my brother and I) as real artists to her friends and family. I’m so lucky for that.
I think even when my self confidence was at its lowest, there was always the consistent encouragement from her corner, even when I didn’t fully recognize it and it always kept me going subconsciously. At my graduation open house from high school back in 2015, she had the brilliant idea of hanging all of my AP Art work up on the walls and arranged a bidding for them for college funds.
I wish more parents were like that for their kids. I know many artists who lack a single family member who see being an artist as a valid career path. They’ll of course value the art that already exists in the world, but for their kid.. god forbid they don’t have a 6-figure job and a pocket full of college debt.
Karen supports me to this day in ways that goes above and beyond. She shows up to my pop-ups when she can (even when she already has so much on her plate), she’s thought of market vendor fees for birthday presents, and she’s commissioned me for things and proudly hangs them on her wall. (Often saying “this will be a whole Celeste wall”.).
So she truly did and continues to do something right. It’s her love and appreciation for the art and creativity around her, and her bright optimism. I hope to see more parents like her.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Celeste and I’m a multi-medium artist, with a focus on clay works and digital art. I live in a maximalist style apartment with my greyhound George, filled with plants, comic books, art collected from all my friends who I admire, thrifted pieces that have a special place in my heart, and a whole lot of video games.
I don’t know how many times I typed up and deleted an answer to this question.. who am I? My works, creative endeavors, etc., because the life I live is a chaotic, long, lovely mess of thing, but my story is important and shaped me into who I am today.
In 2016, I was young, learning to be an adult, and I had to stop going to college for art, because I couldn’t afford to keep paying for it. In turn grew a history of 10+ “traditional” failed jobs, over many years, due to complications with my autism (I’m in the later in life diagnosed club) and mental illnesses. I was feeling hopeless and unsure how I would pay my bills and struggled with intrusive thoughts that I’d end up homeless, even though I was really trying my best. I kept forcing myself to try everything that didn’t require a degree..receptionist, warehouse worker, retail associate, barista, you name it. When things were at its worst, is when art came back to me. I had gotten ghosted, yeah you read that right, ghosted from my last job after I had asked to get one day off a week to see a therapist. It wasn’t the first time I had been mistreated in the workplace, but it certainly wore me down, and I was beginning to think I wouldn’t find my place, or a way to live.
I started making art in exchange for donations so I could pay my bills, because things got reeeaaal tough. In no way did I think it would lead anywhere; it was just purely an act of survival with the one thing I knew I could do. I didn’t feel comfortable accepting donations without giving something in exchange. Word started to grow on Instagram about what I was doing, and the community really showed up. What I didn’t realize is, after months of doing this, it provided me with fulfillment, practice, and actually led me to get my first invite to vend at an art market. (I’ll forever credit Dayna, the owner of Solstice Handmade and Alyx, the owner of Morning Ritual Coffee Bar for this life changing experience.) I enjoyed vending so much, I nervously asked to join in at another. Slowly, people started to learn my name and I started to make lifelong friends who I could relate to in so many ways. Art wasn’t just healing me, but so was the socialization that it brought me.
This lead to, so far, 3 years of growing as an artist AND a person, finding my niche, attending markets and learning what brings me joy.
I create for myself first and foremost. Silly and cute things are my go to. I have a pretty over-active imagination and I enjoy bringing those ideas to life. I’m often inspired by cartoons and those cute Instagram pages from wildlife care centers and zoos that share photos of their animals. Those gachapon mystery type capsules and blind bags are something that inspires me as well, and I dream to create them one day.
I also honor my limits and boundaries as a disabled person. I don’t pressure myself to “make it big”, but instead to enjoy the ride and rest when I need to. Once, I tried to push myself to be a full fledged business, but a lot of my bad mental illness symptoms returned and I had to have a serious talk with myself about my goals. This wasn’t too long ago actually. What I learned was, I’m OK with just “being”.
In my early twenties the names for aesthetics and art styles online made creating for me very difficult because I was always trying to put myself in a box, but I’ve made an executive decision to not subscribe to that. Now I fight against my obsessive compulsive disorder’s nature to categorize things and create in the style and aesthetic that is naturally me. Celeste-core as my friends and I sometimes joke. I’ve started seeing other mediums as possibilities and stopped feeling hindered by my own insecurities. Clay actually used to be something that I told myself I was the worst at. I no longer see that as true. If anything, the world of art seems limitless.
If you made it this far, thank you for hearing my story. I hope it shows that even with hardships and being disabled neurodivergent adult, life can be meaningful, exciting and worth living. It just comes when you least expect it.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The community! Some people still see other artists as competition, or a threat to their success. I think it’s wonderful how so many creatives have tried to combat this way of thinking and encourage seeing each other as friends and emphasize that we learn from each other. Gatekeeping is OUT and community is IN. We can all benefit from learning from each other and being each other’s cheerleaders. There’s nothing quite like the excitement of seeing your artist friends at events and trying to be market buddies (vending next to each other).
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Even though I’m small, I’m always growing a larger audience. I think there is so much emphasis on “tips and tricks” on how to gain followers, but people become so focused on the numbers that they forget these are all real people! Real people will not just follow you for your art, but ALSO for your personality. Engage with your community, and be open and true to yourself. Don’t be afraid to share the good and the bad. I think this helps you to build a better bond with your audience and humanizes the experience of social media. I’ve always been opposed to the idea of having a professional business-like face behind my social media presence. I’m not trying to be anyone but myself. I think that also helps you build the audience that best aligns with your values too. There is way too much emphasis on aesthetics, that creatives or businesses will shy away from speaking out about real world issues that they’re passionate about to avoid conflict and losing followers. I say, if these folks don’t align with your values, then those followers weren’t good for you in the first place. Build a positive and passionate audience that wants to support your work not just because it’s good, but because they want to support YOU as an individual and the causes you support. That’s what really makes collecting art from an individual special I think. It’s the person behind it all. Your audience will grow, be patient.
Contact Info:
- Website: Celestedaydreams.bigcartel.com
- Instagram: @celestedaydreams
- Facebook: Celeste Daydreams
- Youtube: Celestial Possum (Coming Soon!)