We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mauricio Benega. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mauricio below.
Mauricio, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I found my purpose early days when I knew it that drawing was my passion and a natural gift. When I was a kid, I was getting my illustrations to be display at school posters and everyone wanted me to draw stuff all the time. The gift and the passion were already there. At this stage, just developed to be selling my illustrations for magazines, newspaper advertise agencies and in 1996 I was working as a designer for a company doing trophies. Meanwhile, I got to university doing visual arts and computer graphics, and one day I was giving an art contest to participate, and a big coincidence, I have just finished my first painted canvas. That canvas won a prize, and for that moment I told myself I would be doing this for the rest of my life. I wanted to produce as much as I could to spread my work all over the world. 26 years later, that is exactly what I’m doing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Now I live in Te Awanga, New Zealand where I have a business called Studio Benega Ltd. My studio is on the back of my property, and I work with creative projects. From project managing to murals, design to exhibitions and of course a lot of painting. I spend long hours in my studio every day, but living by the beach I can stop what I’m doing and go surf when swell is up. Surf and painting are my true passions and they feed each other, creating a good balance in my lifestyle.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I guess, being curious and not afraid of experiment with styles, materials and tools is a good start. When you are young, in days like these, where you get bombarded with information and visuals, is easy to get distract to the real yourself. It’s important to get hands on, even if you are not feeling to do much and just keep creating. Go back and revisit old work, check your progression and technique. Try to be part of the art community whatever you live in the world, talk to older artists that inspire you, and most important, just keep going.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
There was a lot of books and comic books from different artists that I study and liked it, reading their stories and learning their techniques, was a huge influence in my life, artists such as, Picasso, Otto Dix, Basquiat, Simon Bisley, Sergio Aragones, Leonardo da Vinci and many more, all the masters from back in the day. But in another subject, I liked Think and Grow Rich from Napoleon Hill, The Alquimist from Paulo Coelho and Rich Dad and Poor Dad from Robert Kiyosaki.
Contact Info:
- Website:www.mauriciobenega.com
- Instagram: mauricio benega and studio benega ltd
- Facebook: mauricio benega
- Other: You can purchase his work @ www.mauriciobenega.com
Image Credits
Photo – Charlotte Anderson
