Jimena Buena Vida NFT Artist from Colombia

Thank you so much, Katie. Thanks for joining me. Thank you so much. So how are you today?
I also feel like I'm going like a thousand miles an hour is my birthday today. The day hasn't really been going as I planned it to be, which is very common. I'm super grateful to be here. He's grounding to me, to conflict, to talk to people and have these type of in-depth conversations. And so I'm grateful. I'm excited to talk to you. Just feel very connected with your energy in,
I feel so honored on your birthday. You're with me. Thank you so much. I honor you and this really means a lot it happy, happy, happy birthday. Squirt fellow Scorpio. I know.
Yeah. I met her in person. Yeah, I'm gay. I got to give them a hug and meet. Everybody are all was
That's so cool. Yeah. I wanted to go to the gallery in Venice. I wanted it to be there, but I was still in Detroit at the time, but I came like a few weeks after, but we're all, we're all crossing energies from state to state. That's so cool. So let's just dive in, I guess, to being, since we're talking about NFTs, when did you first find out about NFCS and how did you become an NFC artist?
I followed it if these inferity and I wasn't looking for them, I had started making art as a result of a deep kind of inner healing experience with the therapies and had a lot of parts of myself to, you know, embodied my creative energy through painting watercolors and acrylics. And at that point I had started feeling that I wanted to start making money with what I loved, which was creating art. And I had just, at that point, he started like hanging my art at coffee shops here in St.
Louis, where I live right now, misery. And all of a sudden I hear or read something about people and you know, like we all know he, he made like $69 million from these art that he made over a period of 10 years when he drew pictures in his computer, digital images, you know, every day for 10 years. And so I'm not going to lie. I mean, 69 million. I was like, so I started digging a little more. And then the next thing that really caught my attention was he also went to school for computer science, which I did as well. I'm an engineer.
I was at a computer program for like 13 years. And how I ended up in the states is because I applied for a master's in computer science and I got a master's level. Where did you go to school? I went to school in Southern Illinois. I had a school goal. Is that you as a, you Carbondale. So Saturday noon university. I don't know anyone follows basketball. I love basketball, but anyways, so like he's only art. And then he is an artist that was previously a computer scientist. And I was like, oh, hi, like we have a lot of things in common. And then the next layer that I, that I heard from him or read was that he was also at parents of little ones. And, you know, even through the trenches of being a parent, he decided that he was going to make daily time for himself to create without any expectations so that he could improve his art and improve his knowledge and the tools or whatever, or get better as an artist overall.
And so when he said that, I was like, I was going through that same journey. Like at that point we want to stay kind of at the end of the pandemic, which my kids are three and five at the time were like three and four or, you know, anyways and through the pandemic, I, and we took them out of a school and I became a homeschooler, which I have no background in education all along to say, it became very, very intense because the childcare was kind of all on me for the most far, my husband continued to go to work and there was no break to be honest with you. So art was like the oxygen mask, you know, like the thoughts of gen before anyone else that was out for me.
And anyways, he said like, and I was like, okay. And that's how I'm selling my art. I know like digital art. I have no background in digital, anything what, at the point like zero, I didn't know how to use Photoshop. How do you set a little bit through like my experience with web design and things like that, but had not really any expertise in that to create art. And so I started digging and the first thing that I did was go in Instagram and I literally just stopped. And there was a guy that posted this thing where he said, Hey, I'm going to be giving a chat if you want to attend it, just let me know.
Like I was like, I, I understood nothing from that little sentence that I just said, you know, I didn't know what flip house was. I didn't know what any of these was other than I had just connected with people. And so I texted the guy or DM the person, and I said, what is this you mind like, can I attend his chat? So he replied and said, sure, I need your phone number to send you an invite. And I was like, oh, I'm a very private, or at least was even more in December. You know, I was like, I've never had anything public, these holy second on my phone that I had with my articles, stepping outside of my comfort zone. Something told me that I needed to send my phone number to this stranger.
I've never done that. But at that point I was like, you know, if something comes up, I can always get a new number who cares send my number. He sends me that embed immediately. I download via literally welcome to the rabbit hole. And it's been like nine months, almost 10 months of just incredibly amazing learnings. And I can go into more detail, but that's how I ended up in NFD is I was looking for a way to sell my art. And that seemed to be a very easy way to do it online. I didn't have to package anything. I had kids. I was terrified of like letting my customers down because I needed to pack something and I didn't set, like take it to the mail office, whatever.
So these seemed as a very straightforward way to monetize my passion. And I didn't know anything about community. I didn't know any artists, much less anyone in NFTs. I started to put a podcast. There was really only one pot cause that came with NFS. When do you do it was just all very complicated. And it's almost hard for me to verbalize it. But even though I was really understanding 5% of what I was listening, there was these other very twitted part of me that was incredibly captivated and drawn into like, just wanting to give that.
Oh yeah. So I mean, I'm, I'm listening to everything you're saying. And to go deeper, I feel because of the kids being homeschooled because of the pandemic, because of the whole world blowing up in a sense, it sounds like you went against the parameters of what you would normally do under the circumstances of taking a risk to give your number. You took, you know, new risks and new steps and you found yourself in a whole new world now because you're, you know, that's how you and I met on clubhouse and you're very popular in clubhouse and you're very popular in the NLP space in our community. And everyone loves you. You're very kind and gracious in the rooms and his faces and with the communication.
Yeah. And so like, I think, you know, I know I look up to you and I feel like, you know, people look up to you, especially women and you're a mom, so it's like it was new for you, but you're walking on this beautiful path. And so I, I love your work. I love the colors of your work. And I think it's really, really beautiful about your art. Like I know how you take the negative thoughts that come into our heads, the emotions that hold us back and you're able to apply them onto a canvas and you're able to apply them digitally. You're able to apply that to the art. So do you want to talk about your process of it?
Ah, yeah. So first of all, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your words. Yeah. It's been a journey. I was never, I guess these vocals or FYI, I am in a huge introvert and what I, when I started in clubhouse in February, I was so terrified of speaking that if I said anything, it would, I would write it, like write it down and read it. It would just go off like completely disconnecting and boring for people. Or I would feel so nervous that it was like for months and months, like, I felt like somebody literally had like their feet on my throat.
I like every time I would speak it would just be like so, so hard. And my kids would cry in the background. So I would have knew, I know it's tough to say like, oh, I'm sorry, the kid started screaming. Or like, they literally just went in their pants, but they were like, you know, potty training. And so it was like these whole rebirthing to be transparent is how I'm translating these, this whole journey for me has also brought up like a lot of expression, a lot of cows, a lot of feelings that I repressed. And I feel like a lot of those feelings have been, have been anger and rage has come through my kids who has come through me completely vulnerable and transparent with my experience that I through many, many years.
But also like these last 10 months I've experienced a lot of dips, a lot of, you know, kind of me going back into like feeling depressed into questioning the wise. And I was thinking, I, I'm only saying these to say that that is exactly kind of what I want to represent with my art. I love to feel feelings. Yes. It's okay to use those feelings as a way to map, where did you want to go as a human, you know, and can you do it through color, bright colors, never thought like, you know, like I know what video, and this is only a recording, but you can see me.
And there is like a little corner here of a water color that is very new. So like my physical art was always like, I was priorities. Like I wanted to be new. I wanted to be accommodating. I wanted to say that worst that people expect and need to say I wanted to deliver in the way that I thought it was expected to deliver. I mean, you know, there is a lot of layers. I know that we want to kind of wrap it soon, but also there is a lot of cultural, you know, part of it like growing up, you know, like women are supposed to like be quiet. Women are supposed to kind of just a step, you know, taking a step back. And so all of those things, I'm a lot more other reasons, you know, I would just always like in a way, like taking myself back, you know, like even when I worked in corporate America for many years, because I'm part of also at reason for what I do art is that I come from a scarcity mindset, a mindset of, we don't have enough, like don't share because, you know, if we share anything like I'm talking about physical belongings or, or your knowledge or whatever, who you are like, you know, you're gonna probably run out or whatever energy or whatever, you know, like, and so if universal awakening for me has been to understand and to really feel these so deeply that we are at a time where I think in all areas, I'm talking financial abundance, TV session, quality sexuality, so love, et cetera, love like it's like access for all of us.
And that came through one of my breathing exercises, which was these surrounding feeling. I saw myself inside a circle of light, which represented a bubble created by God, by the universe. And in a way like having me and telling me you are home and you thought you were going to be taken away, or your energy was back as what these lights that are seeing around you. It's a light that will never go away. It's a light that represents that you are protected, but that you are also a giving human being. These bubble will never burst like period.
And so the circles that you see in a lot of my pieces come from that vision that I had during meditation is the sense of abundance of being at peace. And to knowing that it's yours, nobody will take that away.
I love the, I love everything you're saying. I totally identify. I know a lot of other people will identify too. And by you saying this language and getting it out there and breaking the barriers of not being held back from what you were told to people, please, to be a good girl, to do all those things by breaking out of that, I see and feel the rebirth. And I too have gone through transformations and I identify, and I thank you for sharing that. And collectively we share it together, it becomes more magnetic, more solidified, and other people can speak their voice and, you know, share the same language and dance and stories that we're sharing. And I was totally wondering the circle in your work.
Cause I always see the geometric shapes, but I was definitely wondering about the circle in particular. It's very, very special. Yeah.
Yeah. And so you always usually see a notaries or anyone that, that looks at my art is just basic geometry, basic like just shapes and lines and circles, triangles, and the meaning behind that is, well, number one, it just, for whatever reason is appealing to me, obviously. But then the other part that I want to bring to my art is a transformation from very convoluted, depressed repression and your dark feelings and feelings that sometimes we as humans, like kind of tend to think that we can't get out of them into a transformation, into the act of taking simple actions to reconnect with your inner child.
And that is really what I do know what I want to portray it. And like really just share that sometimes we think is harder. And I think that fast to healing is one that is not as hard. If we kind of take a consistently, how, what are some ways you connect to your inner child that you haven't mentioned yet? Whatever I mentioned there, but breathing the breathing exercises are incredibly healing and he, so he is my guy. And then I don't know if you're familiar with the work of Dr. Nicole Libera. She is on Instagram. She's a PhD psychologist that kind of through her own practice, talking to patients, kind of realize that that wasn't really taking her and her patients anywhere.
Like she, she always fun to be stuck. And so she has the system of just inner child awareness is like all like mostly self-awareness. But anyways, she has 30 seconds a bullet journal and he's called the future self journal. I'm making, shopping the name, but it's something like that. The future self journal, Annie's like five prompts. And I do that every morning. I need just sets my day and lately kind of the answers are around like reactivity, right? Like, like we're in a fast-paced world, like NFTs, you have anyone like this in it knows exactly what I'm saying, but we're all going so fast, right.
Chasing these phones or chasing the next project. And so it is exciting, but it's also unhealthy. And it's also, you know, transparency very different to what I feel like, you know, I want to embody, I don't want to embody Bumble. I don't want to embody this scar city. I want to like embodied abundance. I want to embody loss. And so, you know, there is like a little bit of conflict, you know, what's going on kind of in, in that, in, you know, from those two perspectives, you know, I also feel like the level of humanity, the space, you know, the word like communities thrown a lot and everybody just uses it all the time, but it's really something really important to me.
I, it's something that, as I mentioned earlier at the beginning of this chat, I was not looking for it when I started, I didn't even know what community was and it wasn't until I realized that nobody there to give me a platform. Instead, it was me who was responsible for creating my own platform. It was only then that I realized and really understood what community meant. And I'll share it really quickly that, you know, I shared how I house and connected with people. And I loved everybody. I love everybody that, that was there by like, instead of feeling a little clicky, assembling a little bit of the cliques that I feel in high school, for example, you know, we'd like the cooler guys and girls and things like that.
And I was like, no number one, feeling that I have so much to share. And number two, I was like, what happens with those of us that don't speak English that don't necessarily know how to break into the conversations and the need, a more intimate setting to connect at a deeper level. And it was then when I branch out into Twitter, the spaces and Twitter spaces is another boy's platform just to share like live conversations. And I started like just opening my groups there at like 5:30 AM in the morning I started, like before my kids woke up and I would just open up and say, hi, I'm an artist I've sold 100 and fees at the time.
Insane. Like I literally walk into this space with the biggest imposter syndrome and through moving into the space with like intuition and just kind of organic relationships. Like, I can't believe like what I am. And I also feel like if I have locked something, I feel like anyone can do the same. And I'm horrible at giving advice, but I'm an open book and I want to share my experience. And I hope that my experience and loves anything for anyone to take action on their own path and yeah. Talking to you and somebody that I deeply admire and feeling pretty blessed to be talking to you today.
No, you're so sweet. And I appreciate you and thank you for sharing your process and how you show up. And so you're doing this, you know, as a human and you're doing this to be a part of the community and find your voice and find like a new medium and a new way to, you know, create through your heart with your art. And so that shows up while doing this on a personal level. It's deep rooted on a business level too. So that's, that was like a business tech savvy career choice that you made because you know, you have children. So I'm like, oh, five 30, that's very advantageous. You know, like waking up at like, I wish, I mean, some people are just morning people and I just always wish I could like be that early bird, you know, to do that.
And some people just work differently, but your circumstances, you have children. So then you're going to align with the frequency with other people who maybe have daily responsibility of children. So then you're going to align maybe with a different crowd of the crowd. Maybe you want to really connect with. Whereas I don't know, you know, I just feel like there's some of your community when you show up to other people who are showing up when you're able to show up for yourself and then you can show up for others. So when I show up, like, you know, you jumped down on Friday when I jumped on and same thing, imposter syndrome really scary in March when I published my first poetry book, lovers fairytale, this amazing professor helped me cause he published many books and he said, oh yeah, I'll, I'll help you. And I was giving him these algorithm hats.
And I'm like, you know, the number way to bust through the algorithm is to go live. It's the number one thing you can do by going live. So, you know, do stories four to five times a week on the Instagram. And the number one thing is to go live and I'm like, you know what, I'm just going to do it. And I went live and this was in, oh, I'm sorry, this was before March. This was maybe like January, February. I went live. I'm like, I'm going to do it. I was so nervous and so scared. And I did it and I'm like, I'm going to do this more often. And Friday in October was the first time I did it since I said I was going to do it all the time. So it's like, in my mind, I'm like, oh, I'm going to do it all the time. But like almost like eight or nine months pass or whatever. And I didn't do it. So, you know, the imposter syndrome is a big thing. And when we tell ourselves we're going to do something, you know, in our mind, it just goes in a cycle over and over again.
And we just can't pass that energetic pattern, that barrier to show up for self and to do it. And so I did it. And you, you showed up there and a lot of people came and went and it was like really cool. And I was like, oh wow. And I'm like, I'm going to do this more often. But then the next day when I woke up, I felt horrible. And add that, that stuff that you talk about, you know, the emotions that cloud us, that getting away, I just, there was in the moment I felt good and I liked it. But the next day I felt like a lot of my energy felt weird. And so I'm like, I'm going to do that, but maybe not as long, like I'm going to show up. Maybe I won't stay on as long. Like I showed up to like check in with equal on a Friday, but it's a fine tuning it, the energy to be like, okay, I'm going to do it.
And then you don't do it. But then you're like, okay, I'm going to do it. And then you do it, but then maybe you overextend yourself. So it's like each individual has to find their own voice and show up for themselves when it's good for them on the Twitter, on the clubhouse on wherever to take personal time for self and to take more time, to take less time. So there's no right or wrong. It's a dance, you know? And so you share your story. I share a little bit of, you know, an extension off of what you said for something that happened to me. And hopefully the listener who's tuning in can find their happy medium of what works for that.
Absolutely love what you're saying. Because these morning I was running things up like errands and doing things from the driver's license office. And I was like, I wonder what, what topics are going to come, you know, in our conversation, being blessed to be invited now to like a couple of these Packers and lives. And by the way, all these social media stuff is incredibly new. To me is a very big, separate porridge and a very big leap of faith for me to put myself in this type of letter from sin, I'm grateful for having the opportunity to be heard, you know, and it is exactly what you just said, what came to me this morning? And I was like, you know, I feel like we put a lot of pressure on us when we hear things on social media or read things in the news.
There is a lot of pressure to just kind of fit in a box, you know, fit in the society standards. And I feel like for me, like every time I try to put that self pressure and I'll give you just a quick example, like of the last few weeks, if you look in my Instagram feed on the grid, it's a mess. Like I post literally like pictures of my art and they are sometimes these brown, sometimes it's square sometimes it's, you know, it's cut up. Sometimes it's not, sometimes I take screenshots of Twitter to put them on Instagram. Sometimes I take a picture of something like, and I was looking at it the other day and coming from a very self judgmental point of view and just hitting myself really hard.
Like, oh my gosh, how come I'm not posting enough? How come this isn't pretty. And then when I started going into like kind of that self judgment, my inner child, like I'm the Eagle comes and he's like, see, I told you, you were not supposed to do any of this things. Like who do you think you are? And I think like very organically, what you just said brought up to me, the reflection that I've had lately, which is in relation to flow and alignment, I want to show up authentically and I want to show up in a way that fits me in that day, in that very moment. And for me, there is no balance to be very honest with you.
Like in one time, like in the morning, I'm trying to like deal with a toddler that has super a lot of emotions that like happens to spill the milk. And then the next time, like I'm getting a call from somebody inviting me to be part of our platform. And then I'm realizing they don't have plans for dinner for the kids. Then I have to go to the grocery store. Like there is still a lot of things that I'm kind of working on and what, you know, what I have been inviting myself to be like, just invite yourself to be in flow and alignment, and also realize that you're human and that you have the ability to, to make mistakes. Number one, to learn from them and to take a step, to just breathe, enjoy the moment, or just feel any feelings that you have to feel and realign not just do it differently ways that are, you know, that are more connecting or that are better for you.
And I think allowing myself and giving myself that permission to be human, to rest when I need to rest to also push, like I'm very intense. I mean like incredibly intense. And I'm very business-minded, there is something incredibly healing about the process of number one, creating art from my heart. Number two book put in any like the select stores, pricing and marketing, it's all like pushing myself very outside of the comfort. And by doing that, like, I'm actually getting like so much healing that I would never want to stop selling my art. Not sorta for the monetary aspect, as I mentioned, I'm totally okay with the financial abundance to buddy's kind of this cycle of like it's a cleanse is showing up is embodying.
My confidence is also like allowing myself to like communicate where my thoughts are. I feel the feelings love all that.
I love all that. So those are some great business tips for aspiring artists and people in it to win it. What are maybe one or other two business-minded things that are your go-to root part in the natural sounds of the doggies.
But I always tell people when they come to my show that I said like, cats, dogs, kids, husbands partners, do you know anyone that's part of your life is welcome and we should just embrace it.
My CoStar just came on and my CoStar says, it's an app CoStar. It says, and I'm not an affiliate, but it says you are here to develop an intimate, magical relationship with yourself. How apropos is that happy birthday to you? I feel like, I think this is a good message for the podcast.
Yeah. My 2 cents where anyone leaves in that super new, forget about numbers, literally forget about the followers, forget about how many people follow their likes and all that. Forget about that calming space with the wisdom that you already have with an open mind and be humble. And literally like everything will just show in alignment for you, your relationships, the people that you connect with, the type of projects that you are part of it, just move into it and organically keep praying from their heart. I think like something that I felt like really hard at the beginning was like, and that I hear people like coming to my show and like asking like, so tell me what kind of art sells.
And I'm like, is the art that comes from your heart. I don't get poetry music. If he's animations is still are, if it's pictures of your watercolors, I don't care what it is. If it comes from your heart, that is what is going to sell and be patient. It takes time. There is also a lot of artists out there, but there is also a lot of people collecting art and more and more coming every day. So be patient, keep putting yourself out there. Talk about yourself from the heart and things will happen.
Okay. And then I just want to deep dive real quick. When you say, be humble. So someone might be like, what do you mean be humble? And maybe they need to go on a self-discovery journey and Google and read books on how to be more humble. But what do you mean? Because people are like, what do you mean be humble? Like what does that even mean? So what's your take on that?
The question probably the answer is going to come depending on today. What is coming organically for me? It's let your guard down. That's what humbles me. Let your guard down, let the, let God, let the people, you talk to kind of show you, like show you the way, like, just let it down. Like any persistent thoughts, feelings, attachments, to anything, whether it's monetary, whether is, you know, like maybe like thinking that you're already sending off, like let all the stuff down. That's what humble meats to me. And I feel like with that, like, it's almost like you serve render, you know what I mean? Like, it's almost like literally you get down on your knees and you're like, shit.
Like, you know, okay. Show me where it, where to go. And like that, like, that's what I mean by Humboldt saying here.
Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. We can just sit in that for a minute. Everyone take a deep breath. Woo. So thank you so much for all this valuable, valuable, beautiful information wise words, trading space with us. How can people find you
Twitter by Humana? J I M E N a B U E N a V as in Victor. I V as in David a or on Instagram at T manner. That's being U E N a V I V a or on my website, which is that when we w w boy art.
Awesome. This is the, an impactful conversation. I appreciate you. We'll have all your contact information in the show notes so people can follow you immediately and reach out and see your beautiful art. And is it okay if they DMU, if they have any questions or
Anything, answer open a hundred percent. Yes.
Cool. Cool. Sounds good. Rock and roll. Shine on shine on. And we'll talk to you next time. Thank you so much for joining us on she's all over the place. You're
An amazing Katie. Thank you so much for
This. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time, Kyriaki over and out.