WORDS: Sheri Roca
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
Angel Ballesteros-Santillan has an amazing gift for visualizing and recreating forms in 3D. At just ten years old, his ability to sketch something and then build it three dimensionally has already earned him accolades, not just with his third-grade art teacher and his friends and family. His sculptures have even been exhibited at the Manatee County fair and the Bishop Museum in Bradenton.
According to Angel, he first started creating art when he was about eight years old, inspired to create a piñata after watching one being constructed in an online video. He enjoyed it so much that he just kept making more and more. Since then, Angel has had requests from friends and neighbors to make piñatas for gifts or celebrations, creating them from pictures they bring to him or inspired by an animal or character he found on the internet. He even has a small business making piñatas for people in his family and community. But mainly, Angel says that he makes piñatas because “it’s fun!” He is currently working on a four-foot-tall unicorn, with designs already formulated for a dinosaur “as big as me!”
With some inspiration from his art teacher, Valeri Borstelmann, also known as “Ms. B” at Ballard Elementary school, along with introductions to some additional art materials, Angel has been able to expand his creative outlet from simply building piñatas to crafting other types of sculptures as well. For example, one of his recent pieces, the dinosaur that was featured at the annual Manatee County K-12 Art Show at the ArtCenter of Manatee, has a tin foil armature underneath with oven-baked clay over the top of it. Ms. Borstelmann fondly recalls the event, “His first dinosaur sculpture was one already chosen to be on display; however, my hard worker made a second sculpture and proudly brought it with him to the opening reception of the exhibition.”
Ms. B has been very impressed with Angel’s blooming talent, stating, “Angel is a very creative student and works very hard at perfecting his craft. He gets inspiration from the world around him and turns it into something beautiful.” She went on to say, “He is particularly skilled at sculpture. He can actually visualize in three dimensions, which is unheard of with children his age. He has a sketchbook and often draws his plans out before creating them with the sculpture compounds.”
Angel’s creative talent continued to surprise and amaze when he expanded his skills to include simple machines like pulleys and levers to make his sculptures come to life. Thinking not just like an artist but also like an engineer, many of his sculptures also have moving parts. It began when he visited a Chinese restaurant and saw a lovely dragon costume. Angel immediately went home and made a life-size dragon head of his own, with winking eyes and a moving mouth! He used drinking straws and tape to build the frame, and the eyelids were made from plastic bags. Finally, he created a pulley system to open and shut the eyelids and create a moving mouth that he controlled by pulling on a wire. Utilizing the same gifts for ingenuity, he designed and built a basketball board game, including a catapult that shoots the ball into the baskets at varying difficulty levels for higher scores. For his next project, he would like to build a Chinese lion.
Although Angel’s family was surprised by how quickly he has taken to the arts, they have been very supportive and have encouraged his interest in art. They give him the time and space to work on his projects at home and even allow him to repurpose materials he finds around the house and buy him more traditional art materials when he needs them.
“Angle just started making piñatas and things out of random materials around the house,” his mother confides. “He makes a little mess, and there is tissue paper and glue all around the house, but we are very happy for him,” she beams proudly.
According to his father, “Angel is very kind and, overall, a good kid. And he is very focused. When he gets an idea, he needs to make it right away. Sometimes it takes hours, and he won’t stop until he is finished.”
Angel is the youngest of four and has two brothers and a sister. His sister, Stephanie, thinks he is “creative and funny, and a little shy, but he can also be very loud.” Despite the very sisterly input, it’s clear that the entire family is very proud of Angel and his creative accomplishments!
As I was leaving, Angel stopped me and offered me the generous gift of one of his piñatas, “free of charge.” I am now the proud owner of an original Angel Ballesteros-Santillan. Remember the name; I have the feeling the future holds great things for such an imaginative and creative mind.
