Who the hell am I?
- May 15
- 8 min read
Honestly, I never really know how to write these kinds of posts because I’m usually the person behind the molds, behind the orders, behind the late-night design ideas and random (and hopefully funny or inspiring) posts.
But I realized a lot of newer people here probably have no idea who I actually am, how I got into this, or why I care so much about making molds the way I do.
Well, hello, hi, how are ya? I am Faliesha - but most people refer to me as "Fish".
How I got into molds
My love for art in general, I guess you can say, is just a part of my genetic makeup. Born to my dad, a master plasterer & artists Brian Ewing, and my mother, a master crafter, my older sister is a blogger & photographer, my little brother is a CNC machine operator, my younger sister a highly skilled writer; I was destined to be in art of SOME kind.
In high-school I went through all four years in AP art with all four years flying by with an A+ (while struggling in other classes), going into art after high-school just felt natural. First I went into photography, taking photos of families and babies
In 2011 I went through some major life changes which led me to needing to sell all my equipment for survival, and I started drawing memorial photos
(this is Lady Gaga - for privacy reasons I won't share any of the memorial photos)
Eventually I started working in the animal industry and kept my art as just a hobby, and in 2017 I found acrylic pouring
One day I was searching around for a new top coat medium and that's when I found ✨epoxy resin✨ and fell absolutely in love with it. I quickly fell down the rabbit hole, molds, shapes, ideas on ideas...
Things started off rough, there was a lot of learning I had to go through first - like resin, in fact, does NOT wash off your hands and you do need gloves. It isn't a suggestion it is a requirement lol but also learned; setting your stuff on your coffee table near your heater to make it cure faster is a horrible idea (we all had to leave the house for hours to escape the fumes 😅) I was making my own molds, and I also learned what kind of chemical reactions resin has with different silicone types.
I went through this phase, which I feel every artist goes through, where you become experienced enough to make something, with just enough cockiness to feel like you know everything.
My photos suffered, my social media presence suffered, but I was making what I thought at the time were beautiful, cool pieces.
Here I was thinking I'm making master pieces but in reality I was spending more money than I was making and the boxes of "junk" started piling up -- but you couldn't tell me 'ish. I knew what I was doing lol
But that first year really humbled me: no sales, money flying out the window like it was just flowing back in endlessly.
While dumping out a box of pieces one day, I decided this isn't what I want to do - contributing to plastic garbage in our environment. I needed a switch up. I needed to be a part of the solution not a part of the problem.
That's when I decided I am going to ditch all the random molds, the array of different types of resin art I was trying to do all at once (glitter, alcohol pigments, agate etc.) and I am going to lean in to ocean resin pieces.
The moment I found my first ocean piece I was taken aback - maybe its because I am Cali born and raised, maybe its just because its the center of all life, but I was drawn heavily towards these pieces. I NEEDED to learn how.
But this time - I was going to do it right. Work on my photos, work on the waves, and actually learn the science behind resin - what it does, what its made out of. The 'tism really kicked in and I dove in head first
Then COVID hit and I lost my job as a Vet Tech, and it gave me more time to focus on my art and learn more. I found proper gelding, perfected my molds (I was going for an "ocean trapped in a geode" look with rock textured edges). Found out how to sand edges. Played with different viscocities and pigments. Worked on my lacing. Figured out proper PPE and built a makeshift shop in my front yard in a tent
A close friend of mine was a mold maker so she made me tons of custom molds so I was able to start making custom, one-of-a-kind, pieces
After a while it started to become too costly to have her make the molds herself, and it would be more financially feasible to create my own
As I learned how to reflect my art type into different shapes, I started learning how to pour directly onto things, transforming them from the mundane to a beautiful ocean art piece, and worked heavily on my photography (download Lightroom girl, she'll be your best friend I promise)
and that's when I finally decided to start joining pop-up's/outdoor markets
Even pop-up's had a learning curve to it. I didn't have a table and couldn't afford one yet, so I started off with using end tables lined up with curtains draped over them. I didn't know how to check for reliable and trustworthy coordinators, so I lost a lot of money on bad locations, bad coordinators, and overall bunk events that weren't advertised well.
I was denied from a plethora of really good ones too though, as my aesthetic didn't fit their criteria. I had no idea that good markets tend to be white tent only and mine was bright blue! So it took some investing in table cloths that didn't blow away, and in (cheap) decor to help elevate my aesthetic in order to get me accepted into these larger pop-up's. Learned and played with table layouts, how to convince people to give me their email addresses so they can get updates on my shop etc.
I have to say this was the most enjoyable part of my pop-up journey. The learning, the growing (both business wise and as a socially anxious person)
As I started to grow as a resin artist, I started donating to the World Wildlife Fund, I started reusing scrap resin and trash in some of my pieces turning literal trash into art. I was finally on the path I knew I was meant to be on.
And then, what felt suddenly, my molds started gaining more and more interest within some of the resin groups I was in, which came with a whole learning curve of its own.
Different types of silicone, what the difference between a 20A and 10A etc. How to hold down my masters, different types of molds in general (like stress cuts, 3D molds, star toppers and drawer pulls etc), and even the types of chemicals on tape that react differently to silicone.
Next thing you know it I was running my Etsy, attending pop-up's and creating molds for other people
Next thing you know it, I am running two separate shops, one for molds one for resin art, and attending pop-up's. Pooped was an understatment.
Eventually I started to go through burn out. At one point Southern California got crazier than normal winds (80MPH) and blew my entire tent away! So, I was forced to work out of a shed in my backyard that was decrepit, had a beehive in it, next to a fly ridden chicken ranch, and I am pretty sure something died in it somewhere but the damn shed didn't even have a light that I could see into and I wasn't brave enough to go into the dark corners with a flashlight.
I moved all my mold making stuff into my bed room and set up a nice little studio for myself, and man I tell you, I was so proud of this little set up. Looking back at it it looks so sad, so small and cramped, but I would sit there and just take in all the hard work I had put in. I was so proud of myself for pushing as hard as I did to get even enough stuff to be able to say I have a (small) studio.
And this is where my mold shop took off. I started to get into social media more and more, and eventually had a few TikToks take off of up close shots of my silicone bubbles popping, resin education videos, and a few clap backs to the resin haters.
I eventually had to let go of my resin shop as it was taking attention away from my pop-up's and my molds, took much longer to create, on top of trying my best to keep things sanitary in the less than favorable conditions I had to work with.
Fast forward to 2022 my landlord let me know he was selling, I couldn't afford to move within California, so I had to take the leap and head to Utah to save up for a place in Cali. But doing that meant letting go of my pop-up's.
I dove in deep into my molds, I can now confidently say I have mastered the art of mold making as well. I have purchased my own laser to create masters, but I also hand craft many - if not most - of my 3D designs, dove straight into holographic molds, and finally found my sweet spot.
And I have even started dabbling in nail charm molds!
In-between it all I have garnered over 100K followers, made over 10k sales. I have lost my mind, nearly lost my shop (thanks Etsy), had many failed business ideas, changed my business name from Swishy Fishy to Enchanting Tides, I have been to what feels like hell and back, but I have also created online groups, and this little bloggy blog where I try to pass down all the knowledge I have gathered throughout this journey to help prevent others from repeating the same mistakes and help others struggling with similar life circumstances to not feel so alone. Long-term, I’d love to expand more into teaching, creative workshops, and helping people feel less intimidated by resin art and mold making.
So... who am I? I’m not a huge polished corporate brand. I’m a real person making, testing, sculpting, packaging, troubleshooting, redesigning, and learning constantly - and honestly I think that’s what makes my business what it is. I am a hot mess, but a hot mess with many experiences and tons of knowledge on the very craft that I love.
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