Under The Canvas

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The Responsibilities of a Stained Glass Artist with Sylvia Laks

Sylvia Laks is a renowned Stained Glass Artist from Heredia, Costa Rica. During our month there we had researched her work and fell in love with her unique personal stained glass art pieces as well as oil paintings. Hungry to know more about her work we contacted her and was thrilled to hear back that she agreed to be a part of our project. 

Sylvia over the years has developed and grown her reputation for restoration work in mainly churches and cathedrals. While she loves restoration work, she also found a need to develop her own personal work in order to balance her creative mind and spirit. Please enjoy her episode and get a closer look at the responsibilities that come with such an antique art form and her conflicting feelings towards keeping the art form alive while exploring other forms of creativity. 

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Moises Kampos: Tattoo artist from Costa Rica

During our time in Costa Rica we noticed there was a huge influx of tattoo artists, especially in San Jose. @moiseskampos work stood out through color, detail and also his mixture of showcasing his personal sketches and paintings as well as his professional tattoo pieces. Moises was professional and timely through emails and when we finally had the opportunity to meet him he was warm and genuine. 

Here in his interview Moises gives us insight to the responsibilities of being a tattoo artist and a personal look into what he personally finds important when making such pieces. We hope you enjoy our 15th Episode! Please Subscribe to our YouTube channel! 

IG: @moiseskamposart

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Artify Jaco: Promo Video

After 4 months in Mexico we finally decided we needed to move on and explore other countries. Costa Rica was next on our list and as we began researching for artists, fell across Artify Jaco. It’s a new organization that raises money every year to bring local and international artists to the city of Jaco and help beautify through art and large scale murals. Enjoy this promo we ended up doing for them!

Website: Artify Jaco

Instagram: @artifyjaco

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Ep 14: Eleazar Sanchez Aguilar

After 5 yeas, In 2018 Mexican artist Eleazar Aguilar finished a long standing mural project in Tututepec’s historic town. The mural told the history and story of 3 different cultures that resided there and how cultures evolve and change a place. Eleazar describes the importance and responsibilities that murals carry and how history can be expressed through art. 

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Ep. 13: Bertha Liduvina

While exploring Puerto Escondido, we met Bertha (Betty) our Airbnb host who immediately took an interest in our project. She invited us to Mezcal and cactus fruit on her balcony and we became instant friends. Betty shared with us her own personal growth with art and sang us songs she had written and composed. While it was our intention to remain with visual artists, we couldn’t ignore the long deep conversations we had with Betty and thought her words and experience to be fitting to our project. Enjoy Betty’s episode which will inspire you to create art at any age and continually find inspiration throughout your life. 

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Ep. 12 Carlos Bautistab

While making our way to Oaxaca we were researching which artists we wanted to feature. Carlos’s work came up through an instagram search and we immediately gravitated towards his work. Located in San Jose del Pacifico (about a 3-4 hour windy bus ride away into the mountains) we arrived at a small remote town hidden in the clouds, though small and tucked away we were surprised at how many backpackers knew of its existence. Tattoo work and etching are Carlos’s two loves which balance his fast paced mind, though being located in the woods has its drawbacks to its resources, it doesn’t stop this man from accomplishing his goals. Watch episode 12 and enjoy learning about how Carlos pursued his passion despite its seemingly limitations.

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Episode 11: Yoni Gomez

While interviewing Paulina Jaimes in her studio/home we got a glimpse of her boyfriend’s sculpture work and immediately wanted him to be a part of our series as well. While Yoni’s knowledge of materials stems from his parents and at a young age, he still struggled with wondering if this path was the right one for him. Learn more in the episode below and enjoy his fantastic work!

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Episode 10: Kikyz1313 and Rodrigo Cifuentes

Kikyz and Rodrigo were recommended to us by Horacio who thought it would be fun for us to interview a couple that both did art full time. When we saw both of their work we were blown away by their attention to detail and subject matter. Rodrigo is an oil painter while Kikyz does graphite, watercolor and pastel. They greeted us at their home in Queretaro and we became close quickly, they are the type of people to easily get along with. With each artist we realize through conversation that there is a desire within each individual to share what they currently are passionate about in the moment. For both of them it was giving our viewers more insight to the honest realities of being full time artists as a couple, their episode focuses less about their process and more about this particular subject.

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Episode 9: Paulina Jaimes

Portrait painter Paulina Jaimes explains how her exploration with new materials helped her find a medium that better suits her vision for her concepts. There was a language barrier between us but that didn’t stop us from feeling like we were old friends who went way back. Paulina loves playing with light and how that and texture is reflected in her work. Enjoy Episode 9!

IG: http://www.instagram.com/paulinajaimes.pintora

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Episode 8: Floria Gonzalez

Floria Gonzalez is a fantastic photographer giving such creativity and life to her images. We were so excited when she agreed to have us interview and film her in Mexico City! Thankfully our timing was perfect and we were able to attend one of her photo shoots for her plastic series. In her interview she gives us insight to the amount of work it takes to produce one single image! Enjoy!

IG: http://www.instagram.com/i_am_ramona_the_bee

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Episode 7: Mateo Pizarro

Colombian Artist Mateo Pizarro creates incredible small detailed graphite drawings. Watch his episode and get more insight on what drives and motivates him!

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Episode 6 features artists Escoto + Carrara, partners in both life and art. Learn about their art process and how they manage to balance life and work with one another. 

IG: http://www.instagram.com/escotocarrara

Website: http://escotocarrara.com

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Episode 5: Abraham Jimenez

Abraham is an oil painter from Xochimilico, Mexico. Here he goes into the connection and attachment he has towards his work and the fulfillment he receives while inspiring the younger generation.  Please enjoy his episode!

IG: http://www.instagram.com/abrahamjimenezart

Website: http://www.abrahamjimenez.net

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Episode 3: Julie Becker

Julie Becker has been in the tattoo industry for over 21 years. Here she opens up about experimenting with new techniques while dealing with chronic pain. 

Julie is currently stationed in Joshua Tree, CA please contact her for appointments, you get to be tattooed in her sweet little Airstream decked out in her artwork (which is featured in this episode!)

 @juliebeckertattoo-blog-blog

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Episode 2: Justin Smith (Citizen Ten)

Justin Smith is a Bay Area artist juggling multiple creative paths, here he opens up about how necessary each career is but with it, the challenge of handling so many diverse projects at once

 @thecitizenten

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Episode 1: Brent Benaway

Hi friends! Welcome to Under The Canvas! We’re a YouTube art web series traveling around the world interviewing incredible and talented artists. Under The Canvas is an in-depth look into the lives of artists from around the world. Our art series aims to ask thought provoking questions about the struggles and challenges that all artist face while producing their work. 

My husband and I will be backpacking around the world discovering local artists along our travels and giving you honest content on the life of each featured artist. The artwork produced by such talented individuals is only a portion of their story, behind the work are life lessons, experimentation, countless endless hours, sacrifices, doubt, surprises, learning curves, high rewards, patience, and grit. Each episode focuses on something different, but our intention is for our audience to get a glimpse into someone’s life beyond their work and to learn something from each artist. 

We begin in our hometown, San Francisco! Then onwards to Joshua Tree and Mexico, from there we’re unsure of our next destination but please subscribe to our channel and stay in touch with which artists we have lined up and who we’ll be featuring next! Episode 1 features Brent (my husband) since we thought it would be a good idea to experience ourselves what it was like being in front of the camera, we hope you enjoy this series!