Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolina Benavidez.
Hi Carolina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Uruguay where my family instilled in me a love for the arts. My dad is a Tango dancer, and my grandpa used to be an art collector. Paintings and art books filled the walls and bookcases at my grandparents’ house. When I turned sixteen, I abruptly moved to Arizona and had to quickly learn a new language and how to survive in a different environment. Art class was my refuge. My first Ceramics Teacher encouraged me to pursue Art seriously, and soon after, I enrolled at Metropolitan Arts Institute in Phoenix. My Art Teachers there were instrumental in my becoming an artist and inspired me to do this for others.
While I was pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree at Northern Arizona University, I facilitated Art experiences for adults with disabilities and taught private Art lessons to children in Flagstaff. A couple of years after graduating with my BFA in Studio Art, I started teaching Art in public schools. I taught Art full-time for six years and it was amazing to witness how it positively influences children’s learning and socio-emotional development.
During my last year, I started to get more requests for commissions and was selling my Art more consistently. I had very little free time as a K-8 Teacher, so I crammed painting sessions on the weekends. But it wasn’t enough. Last Spring I decided to start teaching on a more flexible schedule, allowing me to work on my art business full-time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I feel so much gratitude for being able to focus on my creative projects, so the challenges feel 100% worth it to me. The main challenges as someone that is starting out, involve the logistics of running every single aspect of my business. Managing my time efficiently is still a challenge for me.
Promoting myself, maintaining my website, communicating with buyers, sourcing the art supplies, packaging, and shipping the pieces are all time-consuming tasks. I need to make sure that no matter how much I have to do, I don’t skip the most important task: actually, paint!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in Watercolor Painting. I explore the full expression of the watercolor medium by combining wet on wet, drybrush, and subtractive techniques. Painting is a meditative experience for me, that connects me with the source of all beauty. Healing our bodies and our spirit through connection to Mother Earth are recurrent themes in my paintings, often depicted through images of animals, plants, and mushrooms. My most current body of work, “Lluvia Tropical”, is a celebration of the wildlife I observed on a recent trip to Costa Rica. These animal paintings are explorations of the concepts of freedom and interconnectivity.
My Mushroom series is inspired by my interest in MycoRestoration, and my own journey of healing my body with edible mushrooms.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Events coming up:
November 19th, Festival of the Arts at the Herberger Theater Center: I will be demonstrating how to paint birds with watercolor, and selling my work.
December 10th & 11th, Phoenix Festival of the Arts at Hance Park: I will be selling my paintings, prints of my work, and some holiday cards.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carolinabenavidezart.com/original-art.html
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinabenavidezart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlueOysterStudio
