We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie and Jennifer Castillo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie and Jennifer , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

My sister and I worked in fields that are far from our basket weaving hobby. We both have always been very creative and for years have been doing photography, video editing, collaging and sketching/painting. It wasn’t until COVID-19 hit and that the world was on lock-down where we challenged ourselves to try new projects. Stephanie had taken a 3D art class in high school where she learned how to weave. She created a beautiful basket from pine cone needles that she collected at our local park. Fast forward to early 2020 and she decided to give weaving another try and found herself weaving non-stop and creating dozens of one-of -a-kind baskets. Shortly after, she taught me, her older sister Jennifer. I caught on very quickly to the weaving process and began creating baskets after I clocked out from work. The weaving process can be very therapeutic and with all the chaos going on in 2020, we found a lot of comfort in being able to escape by carefully creating each piece. We gathered a lot of inspiration from our Latin American background and began to research about baskets that not only served as daily necessities but also as decorative pieces. We began to experiment with different techniques and began adding natural items like seashells and wooden accents. After gifting our items to our family and friends, they encouraged us to try and sell some baskets since we had so many sitting around. Initially, we created an Instagram account in late 2020 that we named, Coronado Ave., (after the street that we grew up in Long Beach.) People from all over the world began to engage and appreciate our weaving. We then listed our goods on Etsy and It felt so rewarding to see people purchasing and appreciating this art form and it just motivated us to make more and more. Eventually, we started selling our goods in person at makers markets around Southern California and were able to connect with so many cool artists of different backgrounds and skills. We genuinely love creating unique baskets and connecting with other makers and especially the community. 2020 will be unforgettable for all, but for us, it was a year that although scary and stressful also allowed us to slow down and take joy in the little things.

Stephanie and Jennifer , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We’re sister duo, Jennifer and Stephanie Castillo. We’ve always loved creating art and since we were kids, we always dreamt of having careers that involved some type of art. As we grew older, we could never really stick to just one medium. We have dabbled in just about everything from, watercolor painting, photography among other things. Jennifer has a background in healthcare and Stephanie in fashion merchandising. After years of working in our industries, 2020 hit and we found ourselves bonding over our newfound love for weaving. Working remotely really helped us focus on our craft and allowed us the opportunity to perfect it.

We’ve had some clients ask us for a bulk amount of baskets to sale at their shop, but it’s simply impossible for us to do that. We find so much satisfaction in creating unique pieces without having any specific direction. We may take hours on one piece or months on another depending on the weaving intricacies and natural accents that are added. There’s really no way to tell how long each piece may take.

Since we started our little
business, we have taken only two custom orders and we’ve found that they were not as enjoyable to make even though the final pieces turned out looking great! After that, we decided that we wouldn’t take any more custom requests and would only weave pieces when we wanted to, not because we had to. This sets us apart from most makers that try to cater specifically to what their customers like or want to sell their goods in bulk. We gather a lot of inspiration from nature, music and our culture. We take great pride in selling goods that are truly one-of-a-kind, handmade and won’t ever be replicated.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

We opened Coronado Ave. on Instagram and started slow by posting pictures around our hometown. Slowly we began to do sneak peaks of our items that were soon to be listed on our Etsy page. We began following many other makers/artists that we really admired from weavers, to soap makers and knitters. Early on, we found that our craft wasn’t for everyone and we didn’t let that discourage us. Like they say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and what you may like may not be for everyone. After accepting this, we made an effort to connect and engage with those that truly looked up to our art. We went out of our way to like other makers pictures and left genuine comments. We also like to engage with our audience if they leave any comments. We love creating fun videos where our followers can see us weaving behind the scenes.

Another fun way of gathering more followers was by doing giveaways! We would give away things that we ourselves would be psyched to win. Staying consistent online is a must. Recently we’ve welcomed new members to our family and had to take a break of our page but now we’re back and more excited than ever to continue engaging with our followers, creating goods that they love.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For us, weaving is a such a special ancient art form that seems to be slowly forgotten and is under appreciated. Bringing it back feels like we’re connecting to our ancestors from El Salvador, whom were known for making baskets and artisanal goods. This process of creating baskets really makes you grateful to slow down and pay attention to the most minute details. Back in the day, baskets were used every day from storing items, to collecting the harvest of the day and were essential necessities. Today, we don’t use them the same way like in the past but we love to hear how our customers use their baskets from storing their personal favorite items from dried flowers, jewelry, seashells, fresh tortillas or just hanging them up on their shelves or walls.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Coronado.ave
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coronadoave/?etsrc=sdt&load_webview=1&bid=omF0kZZdixzlzNNxJmi02RmQ3Z62