Desira Pesta is an East Coast bred artist who was raised by two bikers in the woods near Scranton, Pennsylvania and someone who spent the early part of her life driving tractors, bulldozers, and a dumptruck. A wildly creative, yet quiet kid, Desira preferred to draw faces and architecture from her dreams, watch cooking shows and emulate recipes, decorate the house while her parents were away and write letters to Martha Stewart telling her she was her idol, than go to the mall like most kids. A dedicated reader and writer, Desira nearly completed a full length novel while still in sixth grade. She tried to start a furniture upholstery company in her living room in high school and used to spend her high school Saturday nights in her best friend's basement recording a radio drama starring the Southern character Desira created named Tortoise Muklewicz. She was an odd one alright, yet a person dedicated to making her mark in this life with her many creative outlets.

With an artistic & academic mother who encouraged painting, drawing, and sewing and a father who regaled the family, mostly Desira, with tales of studying parapsychology in college and ghost-hunting on weekends with his professor, an untrained genius of industrial design. Desira's offbeat family spent most of their time in the woods with animals, away on camping trips, and working hard to sell off their property's fieldstone, firewood, and peatmoss. A tomboy, Desira would take off into the woods alone, inventing aliases who were orphans, witches, and vampire hunters, returning back covered in mud when the sun had set. The family had dogs and rabbits, but Desira always wanted a horse. Once she took a ride and the horse, sensing her love of freedom, took off darting through trees away from the path, allowing Desira just one little adventure like Indiana Jones.

It would all make sense that she would go on to start her own clothing company at 22 making painterly mid-century silhouettes and be one of Etsy's first sellers in 2005. In 2007, CEO & Founder of Etsy.com, Rob Kalin invited Desira to become part of a small cooperative think tank of his favorite NYC designers and they shared a studio overlooking the ocean in Red Hook Brooklyn together for three years.

Desira Pesta, Desira's clothing company has become a favorite amongst indie lovers and Desira was one of the final 25 possible contestants for PROJECT RUNWAY seasons 7 & 8.

She has always been in front of the camera, whether it was modeling as a child, creating her own storylines for home video theatrical productions, auditioning for America's Next Top Model, or in school theater & forensics. With a natural knack for all things creative, she has lived an alternative lifestyle, supporting herself solely through creative hands-on endeavors.

Desira graduated from Syracuse University, where she got her BFA in Visual & Performing Arts, magna cum laude.

A Renaissance woman, Desira's past work has included organic farming and shepherding in the Italian Alps, and after moving to NYC, a year as a personal chef and artist assistant to a grandson of Alexander Calder. That gig included restoration of Calder's jewelry & sculpture and artist assistance in a wild variety of media, including cows jaws, human hair, & padlocks.

Desira is an actress & member of the Screen Actors Guild, which you can read more about here.