Today we’d like to introduce you to Crissy Patiño.
Hi Crissy, I’m so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Cristina Patiño, and I am a San Antonio native born to two strong-willed individuals, Max and Doreen Patiño. My father was a metal artist going by the name of Cactus Max. Hence, I call myself Cacti Crissy. My mother is the Director of Sales and Marketing at a historic hotel called the St.Anthony. She claims she isn’t creative yet, but her house is like a gallery of art and furniture selected by a designer. My parents were always so encouraging of me, wanting to make things. For example, when I was about four, my mom set up a little project table for me in the kitchen so I could draw while she cooked dinner. She tells this story about me telling her I was drawing an armadillo and a few minutes later holding up just that. I always had turquoise, hot pink, orange, crazy-colored hand turkeys in school. It was evident from a young age that I wouldn’t be stopped.
I attended catholic school all my life and was one of the more creative kids; at the end of middle school, I found an art program other kids I knew were going to call Say Si, and that’s where I think I started to figure out the meaning of foundation in making art. Not just crafting something but finding intent with the movement of my hands. I attended their high school program, which helped me acquire a scholarship for the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Architectural Design and Sculpture and a minor in writing. From there, I worked a few places before finally going to work with my dad every day. I would follow him around if I could get construction sites, measurements, and material pick-ups. It didn’t last long after realizing the challenges of working for your dad full time and living together simultaneously. The next problem was that I needed to move to another artful job. My mom wanted me to get a graphic design job. Ha. I did quite the opposite and got a job at Garcia Art Glass, a glass-blowing studio in downtown San Antonio. I was hired to be a gallery assistant. Again, I did just the opposite. The glass-blowing team in the back quickly found out I was a metal shop rat.
I moved to the back to help in the cold shop and hot shop production. This is where I learned everything I know about glass blowing, which is only but a fraction of what everyone I had the privilege of learning from had. I am so lucky to have spent so much time learning from a master glassblower like Gerardo Muñoz. This man has over 50 years of experience. As I progressed, I was allowed to make a piece a week. I decided the first thing I would make out of glass would be a cactus. I can’t even remember how many I have made, but I took full advantage of anything cactus-themed I could make out of glass every week while I worked there. Slowly but surely, people began to ask if they could purchase them, and my small business expanded from copper and leather jewelry I would make out of scraps at my dad’s shop to having some glass selections. Then, I started combining the sewing skills my mom gave me in making bags, cutting glass bottles, and propagating plants to sell. Pop-ups are where I expanded my audience pre-covid.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing worth working for is smooth. There is total crying in learning how to blow glass—waking up every day at 5 am to sand tools and get ready for the production. When it will be a 100-degree day in Texas, the hot shop will be 130 degrees when everything is up and running for the blowing day. Not doing things right the first time, working on a piece, and breaking in the middle of it all, but once you make one complete piece, you feel invincible. That goes for anything I’ve ever made, whether glass, wood, or metal. Allowing yourself to embrace moments you feel inspired can sometimes be effortless and other times see completed unreachable.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with what you do?
I started my specialization in making copper-beaten pendants with cactus shapes. From metal, I expanded to making glass cactus sculptures. To make cactus forms with function, I developed shot glasses, bottles, bowls, etc., but this real inspiration for trying to make cactus things came from where my dad got his business name, Cactus Max Metal Artwork. My dad, like me, loved trash and making art out of other people’s trash and scraps. He used to buy metal pieces at the dump and use a plasma torch to cut cactus scenes out as window decor. He sold them to restaurants for windows or small sections as fireplace covers for homes. From there, his entire business grew from starting in my parent’s driveway to him being a legend all around San Antonio. I want to keep his legacy going with my name with my twist.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I would love to work in this American life. I love hearing about weird, quirky stories to help me flow.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: cacti.crissy.creations
Image Credits
Mylaina Remling
