Carels smooths the thick, creamy black paint evenly all over the white canvas. He then makes an X in the canvas and an oval happy face to mark where to pour the color and which direction to spread the paint.
“This black base keeps these white paint bubbles from coming to the surface,” he explains, pointing to the art for sale hanging on the walls at Hawaii Fluid Art's first Valley location. And it’s not that the bubbles look bad; it’s just an artistic preference.
At Hawaii Fluid Art, what you make begins with the pour. With a Dutch pour, the artist pours paint on the canvas, then moves the colors around with a hair dryer. A stone pour gives a natural-looking result from four different colors of paint.
Carels starts a stone pour by filling a cup with the colors. Once there's enough paint in the cup, he pours evenly and carefully onto the happy face on the canvas.
Then, he picks up the canvas and begins moving it slowly in each direction, letting the paint drip off the sides onto the covered table below. The paint creates an amazing almost geode-like pattern that he will let dry for at least three days and then add resin for a sealed and shining look.
Carels says Maya Ratcliff, the creator and owner/franchisor of Hawaii Fluid Art, began using art to help people with brain injuries, a therapeutic experience to unlock their creative flair. Ratcliff is a talented and enthusiastic go-getter, according to Carels.
“She was a banker in the mortgage industry in Hawaii. She was making art in her garage and people were asking prices so she started selling art out of her garage. In 2021, she opened a storefront at Waikōloa Village and it really took off. She had people driving two hours focusing on the art therapy with the aloha spirit of love kindness and generosity toward your fellow human beings. She talked to her husband and moved to Dallas and it took off from there,” Carels says.
Now, Hawaii Fluid Art is a successful franchise business with nearly 50 locations across the country from Hawaii to Pennsylania. Carels fell into this business as he faced retirement after spending 25 years working for Microsoft in Seattle.
“I had given a month's notice and I was doing the snowbird thing. My wife goes to Costco with Seth's wife (Seth Lowy, his co-owner and neighbor) and finds out about Hawaii Fluid Art," Carels says. “I wanted to be my own boss, so when my wife came back and told me this — there’s no such thing as a coincidence.”
Lowy explains the connection further.
“I came across Hawaii Fluid Art online. I always keep my eye out for potential opportunities and this one caught my eye,” Lowy says. “I bought into the franchise because I loved the concept and I loved Maya. This felt like an improvement over some other options out there because you end up with a much nicer finished product and anyone can do it. We like to say it's perfect for people from 3 to 103.
He says that when his and Carels' wives took that fateful Costco trip, "Pete’s wife said that he and I should connect to discuss as he was just retiring from the corporate world and trying to figure out what he was going to do next. We connected and the rest is history.”
Carels started making art at home in 2018, so it was a natural fit. His passion for art is contagious as he points around the studio saying proudly and repeatedly, “I painted that!”
The pair now own rights to seven locations in the greater Phoenix market. The second Hawaii Fluid Art opened in November in Peoria and future locations are being eyed in Tempe, Buckeye, San Tan Valley and North Phoenix.
Lowy is a pharmacist by trade but is “doing the dirty work, backend books ... we’re yin and yang and it seems to work out really well,” Carels says. “We are 50/50 partners but I am the face of the franchise and have the passion to do it.”
To make the most of your Hawaii Fluid Art experience, Carels suggests focusing on your senses — see the black walls covered in colorful art, hear Hawaiian music playing on the speakers, smell the output of tropical-scented candles, feel the paint on your fingertips.
Price points at Hawaii Fluid Art are reasonable: canvases start at $65 for adults and $35 for children. Guests can make a resin charcuterie board that comes with two wine glasses starting at $85, and resin tumbler classes are $45 for kids and $65 for adults. All experiences last 60 to 75 minutes and are instructor-led.
Visit the Hawaii Fluid Art website for more information and to book a class.
