The creations of Swetlana Ophelia Kingston Creations pose a compelling challenge to what often appears to be a widely held belief that ‘nice things’ are only created in urban environments where all of the enabling ‘tools’ are easily reachable and where requisites like reliable electricity (one accepts that this assertion is, these days, easily challengeable) are usually far more reliable than in rural and hinterland communities.
The beauty of Swetlana’s creations challenges that view, indeed, it positively ‘rubbishes’ it. From her 138 Lima, Essequibo residence she continues to ‘turn out’ the most astonishingly creative things………….cakes and pastries, mostly.
Aunty Otia’s Creation Cakes and Pastries is the trading name for the establishment that offers a bewildering array of all-occasion, customized cakes and pastries which the creator says are usually eaten with the eyes first. Through the recommendations of those who have tasted her hand Swetlana continues to ‘rope in’ a continually expanding clientele.
There is a history to her ‘love affair’ with cakes and pastries that goes back to her childhood. Circumstances, however, initially took her in a different direction. In Secondary School she headed for the technical stream. Beyond the CSEC examination which she sat at the Anna Regina Multilateral School, she ‘signed up’ for an apprenticeship programme at the Guyana Power and Light Company. Four years later, upon completion of the programme she began a fifteen-year sojourn as a member of staff of the GPL.
Those ‘distractions,’ however, never caused Swetlana to leave her childhood passion behind. At the end of her official working day and at weekends she would simply ‘bake for fun,’ whipping up treats for those who were fortunate enough to be close to her.
In 2014, and with the encouragement of relatives and friends who had tasted her fare Swetlana opted to turn her passion into a commercial pursuit. She took to ‘U Tube’ to sharpen her cake-decorating and pastry -making skills. These, she says, were complemented by the technical skills that she had acquired as a Secondary School student which helped to develop her cake-designing skills.
The art of cake-decorating cannot, even remotely, be equated with a proverbial ‘cake walk.’ Creative imagination and design skills are critical elements in the process. More than that, however, the ‘turning – out of tastefully designed cakes requires access to the requisite equipment and ingredients. Only a modest amount of what Swetlana she needed could be found in her home community. She was therefore required to travel to Georgetown to secure other ‘ingredients. When her requirements still remained unsatisfied she turned to importing. Special molds and colorings, particularly, had to be acquired from abroad.
Cake-decorating, Swetlana explained, is one of the challenges of the trade. It becomes a matter of the combining the skills of the creator and the creative imagination of the customer. The creator must consult on matters pertaining to considerations of size, colors, shape and other “individual considerations.” It is up to the Creator to translate the wishes of the client into the desired end result.
Swetlana’s eventual to ‘part company’ with the Power Company was influenced almost entirely by the increase in her customer base. Beyond that, demand for the services that she offers had grown to the point where she needed a full-time baker. Her husband, Royon whom she had met and married while they were both GPL employees was ‘recruited’ as the Baker.
The expansion of her clientele into the capital soon necessitated the creation of a pick-up point in Fort street Kingston. Staffing challenges, however, meant that the Kingston facility had to be closed after six months. Logistical considerations associated with transporting ‘delicate cargo’ also affected that operation.
These days, however, Swetlana’s enterprise has secured a sufficiently substantial reputation on the Essequibo Coast to cause her ‘brand’ to take root there.” From what we have been told her customer base has spread itself across the length and breadth of the Essequibo Coast, with some of her products even appearing on supermarket shelves in the one-time ‘Cinderella County.’
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the now well-respected Cake Decorator has added catering to her list of services. Her ‘offerings’ have become decidedly popular at Weddings, Parties, Baby Showers, Beach Parties and the wider range of ‘events’ that are, these days, part of the local entertainment calendar.
Up ahead, she sees herself expanding both in terms of space and in the extent of her culinary offerings. Her exalted ambition extends into adding French, Mexican, Thai, and Italian cuisines to her culinary offerings. She is, at the same time, not unaware of the long-standing potential of the Essequibo Coast for taking its place among the country’s standout tourism locations. That would afford here the opportunity to spread her creative wings even wider.
The acquisition of land on the Essequibo Coast for expansion remains, up to this time, high on her list of priorities. Affordability, she says, has put a brake on that ambition up to this time.
She has submitted an application to the Regional Democratic Council Anna Reginal for a plot of land.
Aunty Otia’s Creation Cakes and Pastries can be reached at 654-8440
