[ Suspenseful music plays ] -My name is Sean Diediker, and I'm a painter.

I've always designed my paintings based on travel and chance.

I love exploring the human condition as I look to find beauty in true, unscripted reality and then documenting that experience with paint.

♪ [ Animal calls ] ♪ [ Owl hoots ] I love merging the craft of Old World masters with modern-day media to create and share unique windows into humanity.

♪ Join me as I canvas the world to explore the interplay between art and the human condition.

Every episode a place, every episode a painting.

♪ [ Wind rushing ] ♪ ♪ [ Camera shutter clicking ] ♪ Tired and broken among the grasses and flowers... ...boats without waves have lost all their powers.

♪ ♪ No fish, no nets, no crew as it happens.

Taken by rust, they are the ships without captains.

♪ If I could describe Puerto Natales as anything, it would be just raw beauty.

Not raw in the sense like rainbows and mountains, even though they have that here.

It's Banksy raw.

Every corner has these beautiful wildflowers, and the walls behind them are just covered in graffiti and murals.

There's a definite character to the place.

♪ ♪ [ Camera shutter clicking ] -I would describe Puerto Natales as the city that gave me home.

What I like most about this specific place on Earth is that allows me to be quiet, be silent.

It's teaching me how to be more connected with myself, just walking on the shore or being in the middle of the forest or just contemplating the landscape around.

In the big cities, it's like you are running all the time, and here in Patagonia, everything has a different rhythm.

The way that people lives in Puerto Natales allows you to have time for you, time for yourself.

-With an emphasis on personal time, residents are free to explore more creative endeavors.

[ Camera shutter clicking ] Since I didn't bring any paint with me on this trip, I decided to let my camera do the painting for me.

-It's always cold, so during the winter, sometimes we have a lot of snow, and the gaucho stay there taking care of the animals during the hard winter.

It's just the man and his dogs, and that's it.

It's part of the simple life, for sure.

There is a real gaucho family, and I can take you there.

-Isa took us to an estancia on the outskirts of town... -Here.

-...to meet Adán and his family.

And it's just -- -And it's just right in the corner.

♪ -They've embraced the simple life, focusing on what they love -- family and horses.

♪ ♪ -[ Speaking Spanish ] -Learning how to ride at an early age is standard in Patagonia.

Adán's son Camilo, at age 5, is no exception.

As we made our way up the steep mountainside, I was curious to see Camilo's ability.

It turns out, this kid could ride.

♪ [ Camera shutter clicking ] The most interesting shots were not the surrounding landscape, but of Adán and his family.

-[ Speaking Spanish ] ♪ [ Camera shutter clicking ] ♪ ♪ -And in true gaucho fashion, they invited us into their home for scones and tea, and they made us feel like family.

Lots of photos, huh?

-Oh, yes.

-Yeah, we've got the family together, like, four faces.

-[ Laughs ] ♪ [ Camera shutter clicks ] ♪ -With horsemanship being a staple in Patagonian culture, it seemed only natural for there to be an event for everyone to gather and test their skills.

[ Indistinct talking, laughter ] -Keep going.

-Gracias.

♪ -The rodeo here in Puerto Natales, which is called in Spanish jineteadas, is a very important festival.

It's part of the culture.

We celebrate yearly.

-The whole town comes, and it's pretty much a test of manhood, because all the gauchos get together and see who can tame the wild horses.

♪ ♪ ♪ As the late summer sun set, the temperature plummeted.

Friends and family huddled together awaiting the spectacle.

This is where heroes are made, and the kids and riders know it.

♪ -The air was thick with nervous anticipation as the first rider mounted, hoping to achieve those few seconds of glory, and the horse doing everything it could to make sure he didn't.

♪ [ Horse neighs, sputters ] [ Man speaking Spanish over P.A. ]

♪ [ Camera shutter clicking ] [ Bell ringing ] [ Crowd cheering ] [ Announcer continues in Spanish ] [ Camera shutter clicking ] [ Bell ringing, crowd cheering ] ♪ ♪ ♪ Some taste the glory, and some taste the dirt.

Either way, riders and spectators alike enjoy a pride in tradition that is uniquely Patagonian.

♪ ♪ ♪ -Connecting with fellow travelers is always a good way to amplify one's own journey.

I came across two doctors at the airport who had just concluded their first trek in Patagonia.

They were glowing from their experience and happy to share a little insight.

-What was the most unexpected thing that you guys experienced in Patagonia?

-Oh, my gosh -- the wind.

-Yes.

-The wind is insane!

It blows you over, literally, on the windy days, so... -Yeah.

-We were holding on to each other on some of the hikes.

-Holding on to some rocks, got rocks pelted at us.

-But it was 100% worth it.

The views were incredible.

-I really love to shoot landscapes, and I love to hike, so it's perfect when we travel together, because we take -- -A lot of pictures.

-...a lot of pictures.

-We pull over the car a lot -- -Yeah.

-...in random spots to take pictures.

You go from being in the desert with fields to these beautiful mountains and glacier lakes and glaciers.

♪ -Their photos inspired me.

I wanted to capture something for myself worth framing.

♪ ♪ Not far from El Calafate, you'll find one of Patagonia's crown jewels -- the Perito Moreno Glacier.

This 100-square-mile ice field is the world's third-largest reserve of fresh water.

These ice castles have been shaping this region for millennia.

If you're quiet, you can hear the glaciers breathing... [ Ice crackling, water bubbling ] ...making room for new ice to glisten in the sun.

♪ And if you are a little patient, you may see one of them come crashing down, reminding you just how small you really are.

♪ ♪ About an hour and a half northwest from Puerto Natales, you'll find some very unique accommodations on the edge of Torres del Paine National Park.

♪ These are not tents -- they are yurts.

And not just any yurts, but perhaps the most luxurious yurts on the planet.

Patagonia often dishes out all four seasons within the space of an hour, and if you have to brave those conditions, you might as well do it in style.

This is Patagonia Camp.

♪ ♪ How did this thing start?

Why yurts?

-Well, it started as a very crazy idea in the beginning.

You know, the owners, they had a dream since they were kids, and they wanted to share with everyone this direct and intimate contact with nature.

They only knew that they wanted to do something unique and something that motivates the guest to get out every day, to really enjoy nature, to put the nature as part of the experience, as the number one.

♪ ♪ -Our first night at Patagonia Camp, we met Gino, who is a photographer as well and a mountaineer, and he said, "If you're willing to get up at 4 o'clock, I'll show you something pretty amazing."

♪ ♪ [ Insects chirping ] -[ Talking indistinctly ] -We are off this morning at 4:00 a.m. to go see some amazing imagery.

-You have to be alert if there's any pumas around.

-Looking for pumas.

Alright.

-Yeah.

-And we're at Torres del Paine National Park, and we've got this fantastic valley, and we're hoping the sun pops up over here.

It's cold, and it's windy.

As we braved the blistering wind and drank up the last of our coffee, the heavens finally opened and gave us a magnificent show.

Wow.

Look at that.

[ Camera shutter clicking ] ♪ ♪ Feeling lucky from our morning captures, Gino agrees to take us to some of his favorite spots to see if we can stretch our luck a bit further.

-It's one of the last places on Earth that you can still feel you're alone.

Fall and spring are really good seasons to come and to enjoy the smell of the flowers, the wind, nice sunrises, do some camping -- find yourself, actually, out there.

-Did you find yourself here?

-I'm still trying.

[ Laughs ] ♪ -As we trekked deeper into Patagonia, it became apparent that the imagery I was collecting would be better served as a photograph rather than a painting.

♪ ♪ -We are now in Grey Beach, heading to the peninsula, so we get the precipitation coming mostly from the Pacific Ocean there and from the ice field, as well.

All of these mountains and rugged peaks are formed by the glacier as it advance and recedes.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] I think it has a specific magnetic feeling that keeps me coming back over and over.

♪ ♪ ♪ -As our eyes and memory cards became full, I couldn't help but feel waves of gratitude for all the beauty we consumed in such a short period of time.

♪ ♪ ♪ [ Camera shutter clicking ] ♪ ♪ On the final day of our Patagonian journey, a long dirt road led me to someone very special.

♪ -[ Whistles ] [ Clicking tongue ] [ Speaking Spanish ] [ Whistling ] -His name is Puchi, and he is a horse whisperer.

-Shh, shh.

[ Clicking tongue ] ♪ -The traditional way of taming wild horses can be borderline abusive.

Puchi takes a different approach.

[ Horse snorting ] -[ Whistling ] Shh.

-It is through time and patience he gently explores ways to establish a partnership.

-[ Whistling ] ♪ -It was hard for me to believe that the same horses hurling their riders through the air during the rodeo would be receptive to such an approach.

But with Puchi, they were.

This departure from the old ways has earned him respect and accolades across the entire region.

It's different, and it works.

[ Camera shutter clicking ] On occasion, Puchi trains humans, as well, passing on the ways of the whisperer.

♪ [ Thunder rumbling ] As it started to rain, Puchi invited us into his modest home.

-Frío.

♪ -As he was pouring us a cup of tea with his burly hands, I couldn't help but think back to little Camilo and wonder if he would walk a similar path.

♪ ♪ Horsemanship runs through the veins of this formidable country.

Its climate is tough, and its people are tougher.

But underneath the hard leather lies nothing but warmth and kindness.

As we drank our tea and scrolled through my photos, it became clear to me that I did have something worth framing -- perhaps more than one.

♪ ♪ Sometimes, you don't fully appreciate the gravity of an experience until you have departed from it.

I felt a sense of pride looking through all of these frozen tokens.

However, Puchi is my favorite.

To me, he is the personification of the rustic beauty that is Patagonia.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -"Canvasing the World" fine art photography, printed on archival metallic paper, is now available.

♪ To order any of the fine art photography from "Canvasing Southern Patagonia" or other editions from the "Canvasing the World" television series, please visit CTWgallery.com.

If you'd like more information on the series or a peek at what's currently on Sean's canvas, you can follow "Canvasing the World" on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, or visit us at CanvasingTheWorld.tv.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -We were invited to the home of Raphael, who is the general manager for Patagonia Camp, and his wife, Carol, who was being trained by Puchi to ride horses.

When we were at Carol and Raphael's home for dinner, it was fantastic, and their son Joaquin, who was disabled, has challenges, painted and was an artist.

What was magical about that experience is, Sean connected with Joaquin, spent some time together where Sean started a drawing and would hand it to Joaquin, and Joaquin would continue the drawing, give it back to Sean, Sean would add to the drawing.

Back and forth and back and forth, and they created this fantastic little piece together.

And it was kind of two artists sharing their passions, and it just was touching.

-This old, abandoned shipyard had a bit of an impact on me, not just visually, but it made me ask, "Why are all these abandoned ships washed up on the shore here?"

And so we found out.

We met this fisherman and his son, and he was trying to pass on the family livelihood to his son.

But these big commercial fisheries would come in to do the salmon farming, and they're putting all the ma-and-pa fishermen out of work.

And so their boats get destroyed, and they're parked right there.

And, you know, we love our cheap fish, but what's the real cost of that?

For the "Canvasing" series, our tagline is, "Every episode a place, every episode a painting."

Well, for Patagonia, I did not do a painting, because Patagonia is so photogenic.

To me, it's creating visuals.

It's just a matter of which tools you use to do that.

Primarily, I use paint.

I like the application.

I like the humanity that brushstrokes bring.

But it seemed like Patagonia would be the place to actually test out my photo skills.

And I think I got a few decent ones, but you be the judge of that.

♪