We were lucky to catch up with Cloey Ponce-Gomez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cloey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

As a child I always loved spooky things, in elementary school we had a project where we had to dissect owl pellets to recreate a mouse bone structure. Most of the class was crying and getting sick, I was fascinated and collect as many unwanted pellets to finish the project. There is something in the process and how we view the bones the beauty of life and death. Before I had easy access to the internet most of my specimens were trial and error.When YouTube and Google was available it was easier to learn how to not only process and clean the bones or how to dry insects properly and store them. Later finding passages in books and finding a community who also enjoys putting dried bees in resin.

Cloey, 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’m a spooky goth mom, wife and artist. I started Goth On A Budget back in 2014 trying desperately to be a YouTube star and influencer but it never really got anywhere til in 2018 I was just getting out of community college and planning a wedding. I found making jewelry, painting portraits of horror icons and wire wrapping was my escape. That same year I attended my first show at another college in San Diego for a friend’s scholar event, I made 100 bucks that day it was huge to me.I was wearing a stupid smile all day and night. I attended local art shows in Oceanside sometimes in San Diego. I made resin jewelry with insects and wired wrapped crystals .Sadly in 2020 like all business I struggled to find my clientele online, Luckily with all my part time jobs my husband and I kept everything afloat. When events were allowed again I kinda lost myself into filling every need/trend, Sell what is trendy and push as much product as inhumanly possible. I burnt out fast , I made myself take a long break which coincided with my pregnancy also being told by the doctors I needed to rest. When I finally came out of my black hole I wanted to go back to where I wanted my art and business to be. Creating art that means something produce what I can and offer customs.So I created Bone & Resin made by Goth On A Budget, Keeping my channel up for those who still watch them but having a spot for me to be me. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies there ares still days where its hard to get up and post or pour some resin. Especially with a 2 year old (in February) running around but I’m happy that I have a village to back me up when I’m struggling.

With Bone & Resin I wanted to create a space that not only represents myself but also the idea that death isn’t that scary. It’s ok to grief and celebrate the life that was. To worship those special moments when a custom memorial piece is seen, to never fear the bees that hover. Now when anyone visits our website they’ll see one of a kind handmade jewelry pieces , like a hand wire wrapped rosary with a Smokey quartz skull. Eco friendly resin made bat earrings for any occasion and now fully using my cricut to its potential handmade stickers and more to be coming soon.

Customs for stickers will also be available on our site soon.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Don’t asking for help. Growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s we (me and my siblings) were taught that asking for help is a sign of weakness. You don’t ask for loans from family , you don’t go to therapy and my favorite you don’t ask for help in education. Learning was always hard for me especially math, it was disappointing to a lot of people I needed help/tutoring. This took me a long (another name for butt) time to unlearn. It wasn’t till in community college I went to free counseling after a conversation with a family member almost led to me ending my own life, I didn’t want to die but I couldn’t live in pain anymore. I’ll alway be grateful to that counselor she help me learn asking for help is actually normal. Nothing in this world could have been done without somebody helping another. Even today I’m sometimes hesitant to ask my loved ones or friends for help but knowing I do have their support makes it easier to ask.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first started doing art shows in my local community ,it was hard for some people with different tastes to see me as a potential vendor/ co artist. But I would show up every month and still sell a few pieces. Something I learned early into my journey was there will always be haters, people who just don’t want you to succeed. A true vendor and artist works with the community, helps their neighbors and doesn’t see others as competition. Gladly the ones who felt negatively towards others have moved on to hopefully better things and a beautiful community continues to prosper here.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.boneandresinshop.com
• Instagram: @bonexresinshop @gothonabudget
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552128091055&mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI2wpChv-L0DDGejkfYheaw?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
Event images by Cody Gomez (Husband) Art and Jewelry by Cloey Ponce-Gomez