[ 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 blowing ] [ Hoofbeats ] ♪ You know all the movies where the main characters at the end are headed West, into the setting Sun?

Well, Utah is where they finally end up.

♪ This is West.

♪ ♪ Utah is home to some of the most diverse landscape on the planet and there's no question that the best way to see it is on the road.

♪ One can drive a few hours in any direction and go from lush, alpine peaks to something very close to what you might find on Mars.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ Chorale plays ] ♪ Utah is a land of faith and visions and many of her roads may lead you to the divine.

This was the case for the early Mormon pioneers [ Gunfire ] when, in the mid-1800s, their faith prompted them to load up the wagons and follow Brigham Young West, blazing a trail into the Great Salt Lake Valley, where he finally declared, "This is the place," then began the 40-year construction of the Salt Lake Temple.

♪ Mormonism remains the dominant religion in Utah today.

♪ Wherever there's a dominant ideology, there's bound to be a subculture, those individuals who choose to break away from the norm and exercise their faith in a different way.

♪ If you took all of the kids that were not in Sunday school and put them on a spaceship for two years that eventually crashed in a remote desert, you might have something like Element 11.

-To me, Element 11 is about community.

It's participation and everybody participates on their own level.

No spectators allowed.

[laughs] -A lot of different festivals are just about the partying.

They're about, you know, the drugs and the alcohol, but here, it's really about family.

-Mormon Church provides such great back pressure for our counterculture.

You know, this big facade of, like, uh!

the religion and everything, so, when people are not Mormon, we're like, "Whoo!"

-What is a burn about?

What does it mean to have a burn and meet?

-Real easy.

-It's a fire catharsis.

[ Laughter ] There's quite a lot of grief, but there's also some celebration that goes in there.

When you have something in your life [ Music pulsing ] that is a big change for you, people want to mark that and memorialize that, somehow, and the temple provides a place for them to literally put it in writing, where somebody will bring like a picture, you know, [ Whistling ] the cat died or their grandma died or something like that.

-And it's really like the culmination of the event.

It's the climax, if you will.

It's the party.

Everyone's excited.

Music will be playing.

People will be celebrating.

The entire festival will show up and gather around and watch it burn.

♪ -In 1847, Brigham Young and the Mormons pioneered the way West to escape religious persecution.

In a way, the people of Element 11 are doing the same thing.

The Temple Burn is the final sacrament, but, unlike the Great Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, this temple was designed to burn.

[ Cheering ] [ Whistling ] ♪ ♪ ♪ -Congratulations, children, for un-eating the forbidden fruit.

Here we are, once again, -[Chuckle] -naked in the Garden of Eden.

♪ [ Birds chirping ] [ Chorale plays ] ♪ ♪ -Visions and faith: They are at the heart of what makes Utah what it is today.

This is a tale of two visions, two different men, but the same quest for untold riches buried deep in the Utah mountains.

♪ One of them succeeded, but the other vision has not yet come to pass.

♪ I met up with Eureka City's mayor, Nick Castleton, as well as the founding members of the Mojave Underground, who took me into the backcountry to explore this further.

Like something out of "Lord of the Rings," these two mines stand across from each other, separated by the valley below.

♪ [ Chorale plays ] ♪ ♪ -So I'm here with Stu and Crystal of the Mojave Underground.

-We're a group of abandoned-mine explorers, the biggest in the world.

Started back in 2007 and we've just been growin' since then.

-I've heard a lot of these mines have started based on visions.

-That's true.

-And I was wondering if you could tell me about some of those.

-So, John Koyle was a Mormon bishop and he had a vision, one day, that there was a Nephite trove of treasure in the mountains, the hills up above Salem, that was there for the Mormons to use in the last days, and that he was supposed to be the one to bring it about.

And so, the mountain is full of gold and there's ore all around these rooms of Nephite treasure.

And I've heard anywhere from three to five to seven different rooms of treasure, but they're supposed to be down there and they can only be accessed in a great time of need and that those mines will save the Mormons and they'll save America.

And, you know, we've yet to see.

The jury's still out on whether anything will eventually come of it.

But there was a vision here in Eureka that came to Jesse Knight and his vision actually did come true and this mine leads into some of those workings that kinda came about through that whole process.

[ Suspenseful music plays ] [ Metal clangs ] ♪ -As we stepped into the mine, the temperature dropped nearly 50°.

It felt like stepping into a meat locker and my mind began playing tricks on me as we made our way half a mile into the Earth.

There was evidence of many collapsed tunnels and iron mining carts that looked like crushed tinfoil.

♪ I couldn't help but think of the men that died in this exact mine so many years ago and I had to consider who we would eat first if the mountain decided to close her jaws on us.

As we got to the end of the tracks, the narrow mine shaft opened into a massive room, the resulting void after removing the treasure from Jesse Knight's initial vision.

♪ How long would it have taken him to get to this spot?

-In this kind of rock, about 10 to 12 feet a day, maybe up to 15 feet a day, so you're lookin' at a half a mile.

They spent at least a year.

♪ -Crystal, you've got something here, a candle.

Now, that's no ordinary candle.

-Well, this is a candle that was used by the miners back in the day.

-So how old is this particular one?

-This one is about late 1800s, early 1900s, and this was how they told the time.

This candle was a two-hour runtime.

They would take about four of these in for their shift.

When all four of their candles were spent, they knew it was about eight hours' worth of time, and they left and went home.

-The light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

-[Chuckle] -And this room was definitely the light at the end of the tunnel.

[ Laughter ] Once they got here, they were quite happy.

[laughs] -In addition to the money he gave to the church, Brigham Young wanted someplace where people could be educated with a proper religious background, also, so Jesse Knight purchased 500 acres of ground on the foothills east of Provo, Utah, and gave it to Karl G. Maeser for a place to build his school and that's where Brigham Young University sits today.

[ Birds chirping ] ♪ [ Chorale plays ] ♪ -The castle-like facade of John Koyle's Dream Mine still stands.

It is a testament of faith to the man who built it and those that are still awaiting its reward.

Even though it's no longer operating, you can still buy stock in the Dream Mine.

Perhaps all you need is just a little faith.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ One of my all-time favorite painters is Maynard Dixon.

His paintings of the West, especially Utah, are unlike any other and they've been a constant inspiration for me every time I pick up a brush.

I sat down with renowned author and art historian Dr. Vern Swanson to learn a little more.

Vern.

[ Hands clasp ] So good to see you, my friend.

-Wonderful!

-We've had a few adventures together.

-We have, in Russia, far away.

-That's right.

-And nearby, too.

I think, personally, Maynard Dixon is the greatest artist of the 12 western states.

He understood the skeletal world of landscape, of mountains unadorned by soil or vegetation, better than anybody.

A guy who came to Utah, said, "You don't know what you have," but if you're born in Utah, you don't see Utah as if you came to Utah.

[ Wheel squeaks, hoofbeat ] He comes here in the late '20s, settles here in the '30s, in Mount Carmel, down by Zions.

Unbelievable landscape.

It sends you to your knees.

Southern Utah and Northern Utah are like going from planet Earth to the Moon.

It is so amazingly different.

Did you know that was the motivating factor of almost all itinerate artists in the West?

And there's a lot of 'em, hundreds, who came from the east to the West to capture the unvarnished West before it disappeared.

♪ -Not far from the Utah border, my own grandfather owned and operated a small dirt-floor trading post in New Mexico.

He spoke fluent Navajo and would trade with many of the tribes in the Star Lake region.

They loved and respected him.

I wasn't around then, but our family always had items around the house, such as handmade rugs and kachina dolls, to remind us of the vanishing West and Granddad's connection with the Native Americans.

♪ As you make your way south of Northern Utah, you'll notice that nature was certainly at the top of her game when she finally laid down her hammer and chisel to give us Southern Utah.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ A popular way of exploring this Martian landscape is in an off-road vehicle.

[ Heavy metal plays ] ♪ Desert riders get to release their inner Mad Max as they throw the top down and kick up a little dust.

♪ After your teeth have caked over from the grit of the road and it's time to lay your body down, perhaps try Moab Under Canvas, a luxury tent city that takes camping to another level.

[ Bright tune plays ] I've done my fair share of "bedroll in the dirt, head on the stone" roughin' it, and those were good times.

But having a king-size bed in the middle of the desert was, let's just say, very nice.

What is glamping?

-Glamping is the higher form of camping, so, it's the luxurious form.

It takes out all the work.

It takes out the work of putting up your tent, getting your bed ready, setting up your fire.

Just eliminates all the work, makes it all fun, and it's in the most beautiful place.

-Obviously.

-You get to experience it, you know?

You're just here for the ride.

♪ ♪ [ Suspenseful music plays ] ♪ ♪ -A few tumbleweeds southwest from Moab, you'll come across one of the most unique lakes on the planet... ♪ Lake Powell.

A water sportsman's paradise, Lake Powell offers endless canyons of sandstone waterways for those who need their hydro fix.

♪ How's the water?

-[breathlessly] Oh, it's good.

-[Chuckle] -How was it?

-It was amazing.

Boy.

-A nice way to start the day?

-[gasping] Yeah, the best.

♪ -You'll also find a vast array of cliffs to test your courage.

Ah-eh-eh!

Whoo!

-Aaaaah!

-Whoo-oo!

[ Poignant tune plays ] -It took a few practice runs, but I eventually took the plunge.

Whoo!

♪ Ah, just kidding.

♪ The best way for you and your family to explore Lake Powell's nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline is on a houseboat.

Utah is known for its large families and, when I say large, I'm talking about 10 or more kids.

Utah boasts the highest birth rate in the nation and, with those kind of numbers, you're definitely going to need a bigger boat.

♪ So, whether you have two kids or 10, Lake Powell is a great way to bring everyone together and drift off into the sunset.

♪ One can't truly appreciate Utah unless you can appreciate the people that were here first.

I couldn't help but think of my grandfather as we drove east to meet the Ute leader known as White Belly.

-I'm a filmmaker, storyteller.

I also play music and I'm also one of the spiritual leaders for our people.

People call and ask me for help and pray for them and, so, it's an everyday thing.

[ Speaking Ute language ] -Speaking of praying with people, you told me about an experience the other day, regarding a hummingbird.

-Yeah.

-I was wondering what the significance of hummingbirds were to the Ute people.

-Yeah, the hummingbird is considered a medicine bird for our people.

I was doing a blessing up to Sun Dance.

I had just finished with this lady and the hummingbird came.

It was helping her, doctoring her.

My family has this gift that we've been able to help people.

We use the sweetgrass and we use the eagle wing and so those are our tools to help people.

One of the ways to find what those gifts are is to go on a vision quest.

It was a transition from childhood to manhood.

We use it to help us to get closer to the Creator.

[ Flute plays haunting tune ] ♪ When we go up on the mountain to sacrifice this body with no food and water, we deprive it from those things for three or four days for what we're asking for.

-Well, we made it.

-Yes.

♪ -Along our journey up the mountain, Larry spoke of the legends that shaped the landscape below.

Larry's also a painter.

He was kind enough to share some of the symbols and heritage behind his work, including his own experience as a warrior in Vietnam.

-Looking on the back here, we "pray for all Indians."

♪ [tapping] This guy.

I had to be in a different place [tearfully] when I did this one.

Those things, it made me realize, "If I'm gonna make it through this, I have to go back to who I am, as a Ute."

I come from a traditional family and we pray and so I started to pray and I made it through.

Well, when I came back home after all of that, my family said, "We have two Sun Dances and then we have one in August, and that one's for veterans."

So I went into that one and they said, "You wash off all that war off from you."

Vietnam inspired this one.

That's why it's so hard to talk about it.

♪ -Larry also gave me photos of his grandfather and other members of his tribe to help me better understand the way things used to be, but as more and more white settlers arrived, more often than not, the Ute people were treated unfairly and forced to vacate the lands of their heritage.

♪ Larry, I understand there's a significance to fire.

What does fire mean to the Ute people?

-Fire itself is alive.

When we light that fire for the sweat, we pray to it because it's just like us.

It has to have oxygen to exist.

It's got to have food, something to burn, and so it's a living thing.

If you go like this and cut off the oxygen, it dies, just like us.

♪ -Larry offered to perform a traditional Native American ceremony called a smudge.

♪ I had seen this done in the past, but assumed it could only be performed by Native elders.

♪ Larry informed me that this wasn't the case as he gifted me the strands of braided sweetgrass, suggesting that, at the appropriate time, I could perform a smudge of my own.

That's so cool.

I wish you could smell it.

It smells fantastic.

[chuckle] For people that don't know what a smudge is, what is a smudge?

-Well, a smudge -- In every religion, you'll find that they use smoke of some kind and smoke, regardless what it comes from, has the ability to penetrate all the dimensions and so that's why smoke itself is used.

So, for my family and for me, we've always used this sweetgrass and, when we offer the tobacco, the tobacco is spirit food and it's also food for Mother Earth.

It goes back into the ground.

But this sweetgrass, that smoke goes wherever it's meant to go.

-I wanted to paint something to serve as a reminder for those who have had to let someone go and make their own journey, in this life or the next.

Their path is not beyond the distant sage and wind.

Their journey isn't measured in steps.

They are the ones who wait.

They wait for those who walk behind the Sun in tall grasses.

They wait for those who sleep under rain and frost.

They wait for those who carry the sword, among the stone and ash.

They keep warm places for those who may not return.

They are the ones who wait.

♪ -"Canvasing the World" fine art reproductions, printed on pearl linen and museum-quality cotton rag, are now available.

♪ To order your own fine art reproduction of The Ones Who Wait or any additions 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.

♪ ♪ ♪ -Where are you flyin', Bruce?

-I am way, way over there.

I think I'm on the edge of Nevada right now.

-[Chuckle] [ Hard rock plays ] ♪ ♪ ♪ -One of the exciting things about the Utah episode is when we filmed in the mine.

At some point, I went ahead from the group.

I placed a bunch of lights here and there throughout the tunnel and I kept going into the darkness, where I could see just our lights and then our people way in the distance.

And what happened was I stopped and, before I called, "Action," to have people start moving through, in that moment of quiet, I asked myself, "Am I alone?

Is there somebody else back here [laughs] from some of the spirits from people had worked here 100 years ago?"

So it's kind of an interesting, interesting, scary little moment, you know?

-Yeah, so.

-Our fearless producer, Bruce.

[ Laughter ] -Utah has so many nooks and crannies that haven't been explored and one that's kind of off the beaten path in Moab is called Mill Creek.

It's one of my favorites.

At Mill Creek, if you go a little bit beyond the oasis pools, there's a trail that goes for miles and miles and miles, and there's this one particular cave.

It's like a little house.

So we made it up to this cave.

I'm sitting in this.

It looks like BarcaLounger made out of stone that is just here.

This cave seems to come fully equipped for the light traveler.

We opened up one of the containers that are buried into the sand and there was rice in it.

There's no sign suggesting it's for anybody, so I'm assuming it's for any travelers that might be a little hungry and are packing light.

There's these little treasures all over the Mill Creek Canyon area.

I spend a lot of time in Utah and I call it home much of the year.

As a painter, visiting Moab is always a treat because you've got complementary colors all around you.

There's something about the red rock with the green trees and the blue sky.

It's a visual paradise for a painter.

♪ ♪