Art as Stress Relief for High-Achievers with Alicia Díaz-Blevins

Lyric Kinard (00:02.936) Hello friends, I can't wait for you to meet Alicia Diaz-Blevins, who is a fluid acrylic artist in San Antonio, Texas, and doing really interesting things with her business. Alicia, welcome. I'm so glad you're here. Would you kind of give us a little background? Why did you become an artist? What do you do in your regular life? Alicia Diaz-Blevins (00:30.327) Sure, thank you and thank you for inviting me. I am so happy to be here. So hi everybody. My story is a little bit crazy story. So I was born and grew up in Mexico, Mexico City, and I work all my life so hard. Like I was doing like business and I was always like in my career in different areas, like administration and finance, human resources. have like the two sides of my brain to exercise my two sides of the brain. So I was in the finance area but also in the HR area and everybody thought that it was weird because most sometimes you find people that is on the finance and it's so numbers oriented or in the human resources and it's like the other side right but I had both. So I guess that it's of my creativity as well. I like doing different things. So I always like painting and drawing and I am not that good at drawing. I am better at like creating different shapes and I am so, love like for example, Georgia O'Keeffe type of art. I absolutely love it. love like abstract or abstract with certain like movement and Alicia Diaz-Blevins (01:50.769) color and shapes not like like abstract that you say well what is this right something like that so i always work full time i started my business also like teaching productivity and leadership and working full time so was really really tired so art for me was kind of like my go-to time to relax and to decompress what i was doing acrylic or watercolors or pastels that I loved but I am a little bit of perfectionist so a tree needs to look like a tree right or a house needs to look like a proportions or a person needs to look like a person so I don't know why I got into one day I was watching some videos and I was looking at some people that were doing what is called a pouring medium right the pouring And I loved it. I loved it. I loved the way that they were working with the colors and the paints and the shapes and the forms and creating beautiful art without the stress. So I said, I want to try that. I started trying it and I fall in love with it to the point that I just started like, of course, as you can imagine, and all your audience know, like we have like another Michael's story that we're on house or like. another like Jerry's Artarama or bricks or whatever right a big supplier store in our houses so I have canvases and brushes and paints and all this stuff and then I started doing my Instagram account and putting some videos only sharing with my family and friends and people start asking me how do are you doing that this looks really cool and why don't you teach me about it and then I started teaching I always like Alicia Diaz-Blevins (03:52.267) teaching honestly in my career I was always like sharing stuff with people so it was natural to me so I said okay why not so I started like talking to certain friends and then you know during COVID a lot of stuff moved to online so I was teaching different things and then I said why not teaching fluid art online so then I started teaching online originally in Spanish because Spanish is my first language so I felt more comfortable doing that and then some friends some family told me like when you start teaching in English please let me know because I really want to learn how to do that it sounds fun and I love your art so let me know so I said okay I am going to start teaching in English and I started doing that and I am having a blast it has been really like to me is not another job Alicia Diaz-Blevins (04:51.951) It's really my opportunity to relax and share it with other people. So it's really, really fun for me. Lyric Kinard (05:00.438) Right, it's a big party when we all get together and just play with the colors. And I get what you mean. So your studio, your house gets overtaken. I went from a corner of the kitchen counter. Now I have the entire third floor of the house. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (05:17.506) Yeah. have to a joke for me because I had, of course, I started as everybody starts, right? At the kitchen table. Then I moved to the dining room. So I took over the dining room. Then my stepdaughter moved out of the house. So that room became available. And I said, I think I'm going to put this chair in mine. So then I moved to her room. I changed the carpet. put flooring because it's so much easier in case something drops. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (05:48.745) can easily clean it with the carpet it's already ruined you know acrylic is to take it out of your clothes what their color is but not acrylic so then I put some flooring and then that studio is already converted in that room is already converted into my studio but but also I need place to put my paints when they dry because for fluid art it needs at least a day to completely dry so then I took over like like the outside of the room Alicia Diaz-Blevins (06:18.639) And my cousin told me, like, are you already ready to take the second floor? Lyric Kinard (06:25.774) Go, go, go! Yeah, as soon as those kids move out, it's like, sorry, no, it's not your room anymore. You'll have to just stay wherever, you know, don't come home for the summer because you'll have to sleep on the couch. It's all good. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (06:42.669) Yeah, exactly. And actually, she's now moved back with us temporarily. then I said, sorry, honey, I no longer have your room. So you can use the other room. Lyric Kinard (06:53.778) Mm-hmm. That's what well, we know what's important, right? The art that we do though brings us, we do it for a reason and we're not the taking over the house and it's an investment in supplies, but it brings us something. It does something for our soul when we create, when we are taking a blank canvas when we are creating order out of chaos or beauty out of nothing. that deep satisfaction and that joy and that fulfillment, there's something about people who take that and then share it with others. And not just I'm making art, here's my art for you, but teaching them how to do it. So there's something so generous in the soul of an artist who teaches. that wants others to find that same peace and creativity and joy, right? And so it sounds like you kind of just fell into it. People started asking, like, okay, I'll do that. Because if you're in HR, in human resources, in business, that's often part of what you do. It's interaction, it's teaching people how the business works, it's helping people figure things out. and navigate through the business world. So you had the idea of teaching already. When Lyric Kinard (08:49.015) When you first taught, you were teaching in person? Alicia Diaz-Blevins (08:52.425) I thought in person and I thought of online as well, yes. Lyric Kinard (08:56.387) No, both at the same time. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (08:58.315) Yeah, I am crazy. It's not all or don't do anything. Lyric Kinard (09:00.335) No, it's great. Lyric Kinard (09:07.471) Let's just do all the things. Yes, I won't tell you all the things that I do. So how did you start? How do you deliver your classes? How do people online learn your art? Are you live via Zoom? Do you have on-demand classes? Alicia Diaz-Blevins (09:28.799) Yeah, it's like I do different things but let me tell you first what you were mentioning because I think that that's really important is that we do what we do because we love that and to me it's like the the best time of my day is when I am in my studio creating something right what I love sharing that because I have seen in my students Alicia Diaz-Blevins (09:56.757) the transformation that they also get. And that's what motivates me. It's like, yes, I love doing my art and I love creating and I love that people tells me, wow, that is so beautiful. How did you do that? Right? What I love more when my students tell me, you know what? That time that I stayed with you, the breathing exercise that we did at the beginning in order to ground us down and forget about the crazy stuff going on. That time that I used for myself to relax and reconnect, that's really what made me like, like energize again. People have told me that they were on depression and when they started playing with me, the way that I do my classes, having fun and all this stuff that they forgot about things. and that they forgot about the crazy stuff going in their days with their families or whatever, that they could really focus and relax. And they love that. Some people even told me that they stopped medication because they found a way to, instead of going to medications, that to me was priceless. I mean, if I can't help people going through that, and also share the beauty of art. I mean, you are living the best of two worlds, right? It's like not only creating something beautiful for you, but also helping others to create something beautiful. And at the same time, like really, really helping them in their transformation, in their own, like different problems that they are having. So to me, that's playlist. Lyric Kinard (11:43.151) It can heal your soul. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (11:44.589) Exactly and that's what art has and I had lived that situation all my life. Every single time that I felt the stress or like with some issues I found myself going and drawing or painting or doing something relaxing. So to me it was a lot of beauty of already there but now sharing it and teaching it and then I don't care whether it's perfect or not. It's having fun, it's relaxing. And I put my candles and I put my like aromatherapy. I love doing that. Also music and I absolutely love that. So what I do is I teach in person. I have done some in person. I look for places because The situation with fluid art is a little bit different because I need a place that I can put some plastic and cover, know? Yeah, because it's a little bit messy. It's not like regular acrylics that you put the paint in the canvas and it dries immediately. You need to have it in a table. You need to have it flat. And you need to have even some things to collect the additional paint and to be able to reduce that paint. Lyric Kinard (12:47.234) It gets messy. Lyric Kinard (12:54.095) Nope. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (13:06.891) and it can fall into the floor and you need to clean it immediately. So it's a little bit messy and you need to really have a place to do it. So I have done it in places where I have found that they have like the right space to do that and the right floors to do that. Or like, I put plastic on top of that and I can clean it easily. What I also do is like... Lyric Kinard (13:23.844) my head. Lyric Kinard (13:30.015) And people don't realize sometimes how much work it is to take your whole art stuff somewhere. I love teaching in person as well. I've taught at a lot of conferences and mostly in the quilting world. But I teach dyeing and screen printing. So it's exactly the same thing. And to be in like a really expensive Marriott hotel or something ballroom or classroom and there's fancy carpet on the floor and you're like okay plastic everywhere it's it's not just the time teaching in the classroom there are hours outside of the classroom that the teacher has to think about all of these things. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (14:02.293) Yeah. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (14:08.524) Yeah. Yeah. yes. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (14:19.073) Yeah, I have attended some fluid art conferences and they have to do that. They have to like cover with plastic the whole, not only the floor, also the chairs and also the table and a lot of stuff. So yes, it is little bit of a work in order to do that, but it's doable. It's doable if you want to do it. And the most important part in the art that I teach is that I need a space to be able to keep Lyric Kinard (14:29.904) Mm-hmm Lyric Kinard (14:36.769) in just a bit. Mm-hmm. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (14:48.649) the paints for a day because even though you get some pizza boxes and put there the paints they should not be moved in the car they will be messy because only a little bit of a movement it will already ruin your paint so you need to leave it there like flat for at least 24 hours for it to dry and be able to move it Alicia Diaz-Blevins (15:14.349) So that's a second additional problem because I need to find a place where I can leave the art there and there is no problem, right? So that is another issue. And that's what I also prefer to teach, of course, because I need to deal with that problem. I always tell my students, it's like, if you have cats in your house, have like a big plastic bin and put it on top of your paint because your cat is going to go and jump on top of your paint and you will have like a lot of marks in your house of your poor cat already full of paint so be careful if you have cats Lyric Kinard (15:55.985) no. You can tell somebody has experienced this. It's art and design, the painted paw prints all over my furniture. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (16:08.519) Exactly. So it has its tricks but that's what I do and I have a lot of fun teaching. You need also to learn if you are teaching and I know that your students do that as well. It's like also set up your cameras, right? It's like I have three cameras. Lyric Kinard (16:25.84) Hmm, now we're getting to teaching online from home. Right. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (16:30.891) Yeah, so for example, I have a camera, like DSL camera, I have a Sony in front of me, right in a tripod. Then I have somebody in front of me facing me, full body with my table. So you can see the whole area, you can see my face, you can see everything. Then I have an iPad, like, Alicia Diaz-Blevins (16:57.847) kind of close to the space that I am working. So my assistant normally can take videos from there and can use it for social media. So she reports that. But also when I am teaching, can see via Zoom, because I have the three cameras on, they can see the close up. And I have another on top of me that it's my phone that it's like, Alicia Diaz-Blevins (17:26.679) facing down so then you can see me in front you can see me on the side you can see the painting on the side and you can see the painting from the top yeah Lyric Kinard (17:34.128) And overhead. this is interesting. So teaching live via Zoom, you've got three different cameras and do you switch back and forth or are they on at the same time? So you can spotlight all three and your students can see all three views at the same time. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (17:46.711) There you go, Ron. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (17:50.667) Yes, what I do honestly is I have an assistant that helps me and holds the camera. She knows when I am teaching, she knows when to focus me in front because we have practiced that, right? So she knows that, but you can also spotlight the three places. So I connect my main camera is in front of me. That is the one that is showing me. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (18:18.099) I have another Zoom connection through my iPad. So that's the second one. And I have another Zoom connection from my phone. So it's the third one. Lyric Kinard (18:29.104) Yeah, because some people will just have them all cabled in and then just switch the whatever Zoom is showing, you know, just switch the camera on their own screen. And then like you, some people have all three logged in so that you can show them all side by side or switch them back and forth, you know. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (18:49.963) Honestly, I haven't tried to connect them through cable because I know that I need like a specific tool in order to do that and I haven't had the time to learn how to do it so... Lyric Kinard (19:01.68) Yeah, so have somebody else. Yeah, with with my people, when we are doing practice Zoom sessions, if Zoom teaching is what they're trying to learn, you I make sure that they know two or three different ways to bring their what what their students are seeing on on to the Zoom meeting. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (19:03.863) Yeah, so, perfect. Lyric Kinard (19:31.44) And they're all viable. They all work really well getting assistant who really knows it and does it for you. So you don't have to worry about it. That's an excellent idea. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (19:40.011) Yes. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (19:43.809) And actually it's well worth it. It's well worth it. Trust me, it's like whatever money you pay to these people is a game changer because you need to forget about those technical stuff. They do that and they are better than you. You are good at teaching and creating. You are not good at some other stuff. Lyric Kinard (19:46.352) Mmm. Lyric Kinard (20:06.742) It, yeah, it takes practice. It takes practice. It also doesn't have to be super fancy or polished because really what we're bringing people is not a movie that's Hollywood produced, right? What we're doing is helping them feel the same kind of joy we feel. And this is one of the things that's really interesting about who you teach. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (20:22.765) Exactly. Lyric Kinard (20:35.574) and the way you teach your art, because it's not just here, welcome to class, here's our materials, here's how you use them, let's do the thing. You have something else, an entire different layer of purpose to who you serve and how you present it. And you've talked about that a little bit with the main purpose being this feeling differently instead of just look at the canvas I made. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (21:10.881) Yeah, I just started thinking like, who do I want to teach? Right? It's just anybody that wants to learn that, but who I really want to teach. And I want to teach people like me, people that were professionals, entrepreneurs, that are running their business at the same time that may be working full time, at the same time that they are taking care of their families, at the same time that they are taking care of the kids, and they don't have time for themselves. So it's really like, Alicia Diaz-Blevins (21:40.097) For me, it's like, hey, come here. I am like you. I am also a busy professional. I am also an entrepreneur. I am also a wife. I also have step kids. I also have like a thousand things to do, but I have time for me. And I have made time for me because it's important for us to take care of ourselves. So I invite busy professionals and entrepreneurs in order for them to take some time to relax and decompress. And that's what we focus. Actually, I am not interested in teaching them and then for them to become a big renowned like fluid artist. No, I mean, if somebody becomes that because of me, that's a plus. But no, and I am not. I love my art, but I also make mistakes and I love making mistakes and redoing everything and who cares? It's only about paint, right? So. That's what I teach. That's what I teach is like, yes, I teach you fluid art and I teach you to create a beautiful, different, there are like different techniques on fluid art and you can do a lot of stuff with that. But at the end of the day, the most important thing for me is that you come to this space and we share together a time for us to really relax, a time for us to really decompress, a time for us to really forget about things and have joy. And really, I love seeing my students like, wow, this is so cool. I never thought that I could do this. Or wow. At the end, I just said, how do you feel? And they say, my goodness, I feel so relaxed. And I can't wait to see you again next week and all that stuff. So it's really that. It's like, yes, it's really cool to have your beautiful pain. or really cool to create functional art because what I have been doing is not only teaching how to paint on the canvas or on a piece of wood, I also want you to have something really cool like in a clock or in the box or even create jewelry or do different things. But the most important to me is like that time for you to really enjoy, to really have it for yourself. And that I teach you also. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (24:01.727) and have it right that you can do it yourself and you can really don't wait for me to have the glasses like you have your paints there you have your canvas there turn on your music put some essential oils and and close the door and then have fun and relax and and let the kids run in the house and and also even invite them i also have had like moms that the kids are there and they say, can my kid come here? Say, of course, yeah, bring them in. And then the kids are having a blast as well. to me, it's time to have fun, to have to relax and have fun. That's what is really important to me. If you learn another trick or not, that's fine. But it's like a second thing for me. Lyric Kinard (24:51.621) Right? It's interesting how because we have generous spirits that we want to reach as many people as possible all the time, right? But when you niche down, when you choose, these are the people I know I can help the best. These are the people I want to serve the most. anybody, anybody. could learn fluid art from you and learn to relax and think, but you have specifically chosen to serve. You're not excluding anybody, but when you niche down, you've chosen entrepreneurs, you've chosen business people. And it's not that other people can't find you and come, but when your messaging is clear,video. Lyric Kinard (25:47.164) to a specific kind of person, to your person that you connect the most with, then I see it over and over. When you find your person, and most especially if you tailor your messaging, your marketing to them. You know, we're getting outside of a little bit of the, is the why we do it into the, this is the how we do it. But when you tailor your marketing message to a very specific kind of person, you reach them. And so often we think, but I don't want to leave anybody out, right? I want to reach as many people as possible. But when you speak to everybody, nobody sees themselves in your messaging. Tell us about how you work. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (26:31.671) Yeah. Lyric Kinard (26:43.537) to target that specific audience and it feels so much more authentic when you do that, right? Alicia Diaz-Blevins (26:53.089) Yeah, yeah, for sure. And actually, that's really interesting that you mentioned that because one thing that has been happening as well, for some reason, I have been attracting also retired people. So one of those people told me, Alicia, why don't you start targeting retired people? And I said, that's an interesting point because at some point, of course, I want to retire, right? And actually, I have a goal to retire in a couple of years. I mean, I look young, but and I said, I am 45 but I am not. I am close to the retirement stage so I was like hmm that's really interesting maybe I can start like reaching out to retirees and and they were telling me they have time they have money they have the the means to do it and I said well maybe maybe maybe the future I could start doing that for now I am focusing on people like me professionals and entrepreneurs and maybe I start like Lyric Kinard (27:39.505) Mm-hmm. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (27:52.905) like niching down more on retirees, right? But I totally agree. If I could go like in general, I think it could be more difficult for me to attract the right people that I want to work on. also these people that I can relate to. It's like I work full time. I still work full time. I have my business. So I am a professional and an entrepreneur, both. So those are the things that I know how to do and I have done it. for a long period of time that I can even talk about that while I am painting, right? I am not really talking about that. We talk a lot also about like how important it is sometimes to really let things go. The way that we are letting the paint go and do its magic also, we need to let problems go and do its magic by themselves, right? So those type of things. And then I can relate with that people because I am that. Lyric Kinard (28:29.617) You Alicia Diaz-Blevins (28:52.881) person Lyric Kinard (28:54.521) right? Understanding your audience is the first part of getting your message right. And by right, we simply mean being able to find the people who need you. So you have to understand their problems. You have to know what they're going through in order to say in whatever outreach, whatever marketing messaging you knew. you use that I know what you're going through. I can help you. And again, we're taught to not say it's me, it's me. It's like, you have this issue. You can feel so much better. Let's go through this together. If in your marketing messaging, your customer, your client, the people you serve see themselves in the story you're telling, that's what helps them know that you are the right person because there's hundreds of people teaching fluid acrylics. There are tons of people teaching surface design on fabric like I do, but they're not gonna care about who teaches them unless they connect because they're like, that person gets me. They're the correct guide to help me through this process. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (30:17.383) Exactly. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (30:21.791) And I also, and that's really important that you mentioned that because honestly, like one day my husband was telling me he was, I was looking into some videos in YouTube, right? And there are tons of artists that teach fluid art. And he was telling me, there's more people that teach that. I said, of course there is. There are thousands of millions of people that do that. But you know, how many millions of people are these in this planet? How many millions of people that we can reach? So. it's the mark because he was telling me like like you have a lot of competition yeah but who cares i mean i i am here to have fun and relax and attract the people that's going to be attracted to me the way that i am and the way that i do and there are millions of people out there that are going to be attracted to that and some some people may like me some people may not some people may go and look for somebody else and that is fine Lyric Kinard (31:09.745) Exactly. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (31:21.635) thing is that we really enjoy what we are doing and we are confident that we can help other people to also do the same. If you are focused on teaching somebody how to do acrylics or watercolor or quilting or cooking or whatever you are, there are tons of people that want to learn from you. There will be some people that are more advanced and they would want to go to an artist that is more advanced. But there's people that has no idea. idea of what fluid acrylic is and then they want to go to somebody that will teach them the basics and that's the type of people that I want to attract is like I don't want to attract to the big artists that knows how to do beautiful cells and everything that sometimes I do and sometimes I don't I don't care I really want to teach somebody that is here to have fun and relax and learn some and get something really cool and that's it they don't want to become a big artist. They only want to relax and have fun and have something really cool in their houses or give it as a gift or whatever. there's clients for everybody. Lyric Kinard (32:33.457) right. Lyric Kinard (32:37.906) There is, and that's exactly it. In the academy, a lot of times we have to work with our teachers on that idea of abundance instead of scarcity. It's okay if your three colleagues sitting next to you, if you're all teaching the exact same thing. There's enough students and we're not competing with each other. You know, we're lifting each other and the students who need us will find us. Even if we're all teaching, we could all teach literally the exact same thing. But my voice and my spirit and your voice and your spirit will connect with the people who are out there that need you. And there are enough. There are enough students to go around for all the Alicia Diaz-Blevins (33:12.224) Exactly. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (33:30.263) Good sec. Lyric Kinard (33:34.707) teachers. mean, this is, I have found in the creative industries that the spirit of collaboration among colleagues is so exhilarating and so energizing when we when we work together and how it really lifts everybody up. It's it's that that fear thing that blocks people when we think, no, they're better teacher or no they have better marketing or no I'm a newbie nobody's gonna listen to me right that fear will block us from reaching the people that we can serve so figure out any way you can to let it go and have exactly that attitude that you have Alicia that there's there's absolutely enough now you you do another thing as well with your classes you're not just teaching the art you Alicia Diaz-Blevins (34:25.077) yeah! Lyric Kinard (34:32.088) specifically are teaching some mindfulness. And you mentioned you do breathing exercises at the beginning. Tell us a little bit about that whole wrapper that comes with your art classes. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (34:43.18) Yeah. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (34:48.459) Yeah, since my main purpose is not only teaching fluid art, right? Yes, I would love to teach you and you create something, but my main purpose is for you to find a way to relax and decompress. So what I do is I start my classes with a breathing exercise. So everybody come to the class and then, okay, everybody has a lot of energy. Sometimes even somebody may have made you mad or maybe you broke your nail. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (35:18.523) or maybe like something happened right and you come with with a lot of stress or a lot of things in your mind so one thing for me that is important is okay everybody let's start with the breathing exercise so it's like two or three deep breath and then it's like and then exhale exhale perfection exhale problems exhale negativity exhale all that stuff and inhale like like that and inhale that peace and inhale that way of like I am here in this moment and relax and that believe it or not those like minute or two minutes that we really focus on that helps to change the mood. Because if you come with like, I am late or I am here. Sometimes I have been like running late from my work because I work like an hour from my house and sometimes the traffic is awful and sometimes I just get just in time for my class. So it's good for me to be okay, now I am here, let's be here, let's relax a little bit. So I do that exercise breathing. before. Then we start like talking about what we learned or like if my students have any question about the class before or if they did anything during the week that they want to share with me or they want to ask me any question and then we do the technique whatever technique I am teaching you at that moment right and we have fun as I said I also make mistakes I am not a perfect person and that is something important that you've mentioned It's like we don't need to be pros like big pros in order to be able to teach I don't know if you have seen or heard about the pyramid that exists between the teaching pyramid, right? You have like different levels from 0 to 10. So there's people that know nothing about what you teach and then you may be level number one and number number two as long as there is a level Alicia Diaz-Blevins (37:34.557) below you, you can teach. If you are level one, you can teach to whoever doesn't know anything about that. If you are level two, you can teach to the level zero and one. If you are level three, you can teach to the other people and the best and the most wonderful artist or guru in your topic can teach everybody. But it doesn't matter if you only know how to combine colors. There's somebody that has no idea how to combine colors. You can teach that person. So that is something really important that you mentioned because sometimes we feel that we need to be pros in order to be able to teach and no of course not and actually it's better if you are not a pro and it's better if you make mistakes because you can teach them how to avoid those mistakes because you have made them yourself and I always tell them it's like you know what when I started doing fluid art I made a lot of mistakes this is one of them I mix paint with different consistencies and I Lyric Kinard (38:27.642) Exactly. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (38:40.079) and I have copies of my original art that are all top-scratch and all that stuff and this is what this happened and this is how you can avoid it and sometimes even I am mixing some paints and I forget that some colors do not work well together in this type of art because sometimes in design like complementary colors are beautiful because if you put a purple and a yellow together they make a beautiful design but in fluid art Alicia Diaz-Blevins (39:10.059) If you put them like they are too liquid and they mix, then you make mud, right? And you don't want that. Lyric Kinard (39:15.475) Yeah. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (39:17.111) So it's like one concept in one type of environment is make a totally different, has a totally different result in another environment. And I teach them that it's like, look, let's try it. Let's mix it and you will see how ugly it looks. Now let's put some white in between and looks how beautiful it looks, right? For example, I teach them that, but that is the way that you can do it. only if you recognize that you are at this level and you already learned and teach those type of things but if you are at level one you can teach anyone that has no idea so you don't need to be an expert in order to teach Lyric Kinard (39:58.836) Exactly. And honestly, if you just connect with your people, they really don't care about your resume. mean, that's that we don't put our resume in our social media and in our marketing messaging. That's it's because it's not about us. Teachers, all you have to do is be a step or two ahead and be willing to turn around and show the people behind you. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (40:05.94) Exactly. Lyric Kinard (40:27.395) exactly what you're saying. on this mountain hike, you know, there's a tree in the way right here. Let me help you over it. Or that path leads to a dead end. Let's take that one ahead. All you have to do is be a couple steps ahead of your students and be willing to help, be willing to serve, be willing to teach. That's what we do. Alicia, this, I love the whole concept. of what you do. I love the way you love and that you care for the people you serve. Tell us where people can find you and tell us the interesting things that are coming up in your business. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (41:13.337) of course, I love that. It's like you can find me, I think everywhere. Well, not everywhere. I am basically in Facebook and Instagram and YouTube. You can find me on my website, www.ali-art. That's where you can find me or in YouTube, Aliart. I have two channels, one in English, one in Spanish. But I love doing different things. Like for example, like right now we are preparing a Christmas workshop for people so they can see how with FluidArt they can also create their own ornaments and also boxes or clocks or whatever. So I am doing that. And I also have a club that is like, I invite people to paint with me. So what we do is like, I teach them the basics for like six weeks. And once they understand the learning experience, and they understand all the basics on fluid acrylic, because you need to learn a couple of things in order to really get good results, right? Lyric Kinard (42:04.818) fun. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (42:31.433) is like the consistency of the paint is really really important to create a really nice result so I teach them those basics and I teach them at the beginning to use pre-mixed paints that they can buy anywhere and I exactly and once they go through that and there are some pre-recording materials as well Lyric Kinard (42:45.531) Mm-hmm. And then they can come into your membership. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (42:56.097) Then I tell them, do you want to continue coming? It's kind of like on demand, show up whenever you want and that's fine. You pay for a monthly, it's kind of like going to the gym. You pay for the monthly fee and then you show up whenever you want. So it's like, I wish I could go more often, but same here, sometimes life gets into the way. But that's basically what I do. I teach my programs for six weeks and then I invite them to my club. Lyric Kinard (43:17.137) Right. Yeah. Excellent. Lyric Kinard (43:24.979) Perfect, perfect. And friends, we will have all of Alicia's links in the show notes, in the YouTube description, wherever you are listening or watching us. Alicia, I am so grateful that you've taken time out of your day to talk with me and to share what you do with our audience. Before we go, I love to ask my guest one question and... This doesn't have to be in the art world. You can answer anything. What is the last thing you made? Alicia Diaz-Blevins (44:04.577) What is the last thing I made? I guess, what is the last thing I made? I think have fun. Honestly, it's like trying to look for the things that are in front of me with a new opportunity. To me, that's what I do. Lyric Kinard (44:09.255) Like I made breakfast this morning. Lyric Kinard (44:26.236) Aha, you made an opportunity. I love that. That's fantastic. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (44:28.437) Yeah. Yeah. Lyric Kinard (44:32.925) Well, thank you so much, Alicia. I appreciate your time here. Alicia Diaz-Blevins (44:37.057) Thank you so much for inviting me and thank you to your audience as well. And then remember, you don't need to be perfect. Have fun, relax, and you will see how things come your way as long as you do it with your heart. Lyric Kinard (44:53.829) Absolutely. And my friends, you keep doing what you do. Keep creating and with your heart, turn around and help the people along behind you so that they can have the same kind of joy that you have. We'll see you next time.