The sky unfurls its colors over the Santa Barbara mountains
She is a ruby beauty , but her past is closely linked to that of the Chumash tribe: "I grew up immersed in Native American culture thanks to my parents, who took care of teaching me the power of nature and the importance of respecting it. They kept a very close relationship with the Chumash , and even added the word "dolphin" in their language to my name, which is "alulquoy" , tells us from California.
Perhaps to better understand this mix of references from her childhood, she studied anthropology, although she finally ended up dedicating herself to a different way of unraveling what s meanings of the native community : creating jewelry pieces inspired by her culture. ** Wild & Free **, which she started almost as a hobby in 2009, has today become a demanded brand that represents an entire lifestyle "dedicated to the wild and free at heart," as she says on her website.
"I started Wild&Free when I was 19, almost five years ago now. I opened an Etsy shop with a few feather necklaces with leather cords, shells and glass charms . I made them and went to my parents' backyard to take photos with them with a timer, to put them on the web, or sometimes I convinced a friend to pose for me, and there we we went on an adventure disguised with flowers and feathers , to look for places in nature in which to photograph ourselves", recalls Corina.
Soon, the orders grew overwhelming, to the point that I had to close the store during the exams for the study time that her creations took away from her. Soon the blog arrived, where she supports the talent of other artists and it unleashes her good taste and her passion for the landscapes that surround her. In this way, the designer closes a circle that opened when she was very young: nature, fashion and Amerindian culture: " My parents were married by a Chumash Chief at my grandfather's house, near the ocean. My mother's wedding dress was made of leather, studded with beads in the front, and both wore moccasins and feathers. Your wedding photos are my favorites of them two together, and when I remember myself as a child, I always see myself looking at my mother's dress hanging on the wall , and thinking that it was the most beautiful garment I had ever seen".
When she designs, Corina likes to travel to those moments in the past, "when she, as a child, would walk outside the ranch where we lived, singing to myself. There she felt that my spirit was completely free and that the world offered me innumerable possibilities . I want everything I make to remind people, in some way, that the world can be magical , and ensure that they never lose sight of that ability to marvel at children yes Also, being outside, nature, has always inspired me."
The brown of limestone , the gray of the mountains, the dark blue of the sea, the green of the branches, the yellow of dead leaves , the various shades of red at sunset; the American West puffs out his chest when Corina merges with him, camera in hand. She goes looking for him an eternal roadtrip which has as obligatory stops **the mountains that get your feet wet in the Big Sur Pacific **, in California; the almost alien landscape of the Grand Canyon, the esoteric red rocks of sedona and the fascinating Lake Powell, all in Arizona; the erosion that form magical visions in Bryce Canyon , in Utah; the Yosemite Moon Mountains , in San Francisco; the miraculous pale sands of the White Sands desert in New Mexico.
"Basically, any place with many landscapes and very few people is perfect ", clarifies the artist. And she continues:" I always choose places where I can be completely alone and where practically nature swallowed me . I love the scenarios where light changes the color of the surroundings where sunset colors the mountains a shade of pink, purple, or blue." And lately this has been found just half an hour from her house, in the mountains of Santa Barbara, California." Every time I go, the landscape feels different ", she confesses to us.
"I have no words to speak of the beauty of the sunset at the top of the East Camino Cielo . It really must be what dreams are made of," she comments in one of her latest posts this perpetual nomad whose sole purpose is pursue beauty and freedom. "Living free and wild is be true to yourself and to ignore the pressure of society to behave in a certain way, is to embrace what makes you different from the rest of the world and pursue your passions", concludes Corina, as she embarks on a new journey of dim light that brought her back to her Chumash childhood.
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