Lauren Harris, founder of Silky Radiance, smiles by her display of handcrafted skincare products at the Rhythm and Relics Flea Market on April 11 in downtown Arlington. Harris offered a variety of body butters and oils.
Small business owners Anna Casiano and Lauren Harris filled their booths with their handmade creations, each display reflecting their personality and dedication to their craft.
The two small business owners turned their spirituality and connections to nature into tangible art and products. Casiano and Harris got to showcase their work as vendors at the Rhythm and Relics Flea Market on April 11.
From childhood, Grand Prairie resident Casiano, 32, said she was in love with animals.
Mornings after it rained, she’d scour her muddy campsite for misplaced worms. Her hours were spent trying to return them to the grass.
When her cat would eat birds, she’d take them to the backyard and bury them, trying to give them the most respectful farewell she could.
As she got older she realized another way to honor them.
Every piece of jewelry and art Casiano and her husband make under Crafting Crybaby includes remnants of nature and animal life, such as bones, butterfly wings and flowers.
“I preserve them, things that a lot of people might think are weird, but I see the beauty, and I see the art in it,” she said.
Casiano links much of her love for nature back to her Native American culture and learning how others would preserve and repurpose bones.
She said her art and jewelry often catch individuals’ attention, as they are sometimes grossed out. Seeing the process changes their perspective she said.
Her art not only changed others’ minds, but her own as she grieved the death of her brother. Realizing her art gives those animals a new life changed her perspective on death and grief, she said.
“It really showed me that each death is not final, because these guys are dead, but they’re not final,” Casiano said. “I’ve made so many other pieces of art that other people have in their homes, that they wear on the daily and that it’s not the end.”
Casiano said her art creates a community in an age where it’s most needed.
“We don’t have to have anything else in common, but if you think this looks cool, then we just made a connection, and that’s better than nothing,” she said.
Just a few booths away, Hurst, Texas, resident Harris, 34, owner of Silky Radiance, draws on her own spirituality and creativity to craft natural, handmade skin care such as hand soaps, body scrubs and more.
She said her idea for the business stemmed from her goal to live a healthier lifestyle and be mindful about what products she used and what she put in and on her skin.
Harris has been making all-natural body moisturizers and scrubs, taking the business with her from Raleigh, North Carolina, to the Dallas-Fort Worth area just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her creative process is often guided by spiritual “downloads,” moments of sudden intuition and creative ideas.
“I try to listen to whatever comes to mind or whatever I dream about. It’s one of those things where it’s for a reason. I don’t think anything is coincidence, so I go ahead and act on it,” Harris said.
At her mother’s house, she recalls suddenly thinking of a new scent combination — amber, grapefruit and eucalyptus — a combination she’d never smelled before. Somehow, she knew they’d work well together, she said.
That product turned out to be one of her best-selling collections.
Harris attributed her success to the support she gets from customers and friends who are also in the business industry. She said she meets with these friends quarterly to share ideas and encourage each other.
“We want to push each other ahead, and we may not be in the same industry, but we share knowledge of and opportunities for us all to grow, and that makes a huge difference,” she said.
Her personal growth since starting Silky Radiance was something she didn’t expect, she said.
“I’m able to call this mine. I’m able to put in my thoughts, my energy, into all of my products, and for it to show itself back to me is very rewarding, and it’s changed me inside and out.”
@kh.kennedyharvey