My name is Tamara Rojas Sibaja. I am a wildlife illustrator and an art lover. Curiosity and passion for art have been part of my life since I was very young. Growing up, I would watch my older sisters dance in the living room, and during the recess of a normal school day, I would run along the hallways and listen to violins, transverse flutes, and clarinets; I would peek through the windows of classrooms to see ballerinas spinning and performing grand jetés. Then, I would head down a flight of stairs to the big art rooms, where I could smell the pigments and see the big canvases on the easels. This wonderful environment changed my life. I am a twin and the youngest of five siblings who, thanks to great economic efforts and scholarships, were fortunate enough to study at Conservatorio Castella, a public elementary school and high school that is a hotbed of artists in this country.
My parents loved art and believed that it was the best way in which a human being could develop. I embraced this idea and, when I started high school at the age of 13, I leaned toward painting. This wonderful craft gave me the freedom to discover myself in the best possible way. In the beginning, I was not the best. I never had an inborn gift; I was not born an artist. I made myself along the way after many hours of practice. I started drawing. Then, I learned oil painting. I fell in love with watercolor, and, eventually, I developed a technique for oil painting on paper, in which the focus at the time was to make portraits of children. Four years later, after graduating and finishing at the Castella, something inside kept telling me that I had to continue painting no matter what. I can say that the time at Castella was one of the happiest of my life.
I decided to study painting at the School of Fine Arts at Universidad de Costa Rica (University of Costa Rica). Thankfully, I was accepted and awarded a scholarship for my socioeconomic condition. My parents supported me, and I could not have been happier to start this journey with a great hope to make a living through my art. At the start of my major, when I was just seventeen years old, I faced numerous challenges and a heavy course load, which lead me to consider dropping out. Even so, I held on and, as a result, was able to get immersed in the learning of different techniques and styles during the first two years of the major. After that, I started my specialization, but it was not what I expected since that year the focus shifted from traditional to contemporary art, and we were not taught to paint that much. However, this resulted in a change of mindset that had a significant impact on my future, since we were encouraged to have our own criteria as artists. We were encouraged to create pieces of art from a sense of identity rather than just creating art for the sake of it.
In this journey I had many a crisis that helped me to know myself, but, in the end, there was one that changed everything: I decided to quit painting once I finished my major! In spite of having the best of grades, I felt that I had lost myself, so I found it necessary to take a break until I found the meaning again. Thus, all my materials to create were stored for two whole years while I started a new major in Graphic Design, for which I would obtain a licenciatura (a type of graduate degree). This degree helped me secure jobs that would allow me to keep my dream of making a living through art. One day, a year and a half later, I stumbled upon a binder full of projects from my first two years of my major, and something caught my attention: Regardless of whether they were carvings, watercolors, oil paintings, sculptures, or ceramics, birds were always present in my works. I felt some of the excitement that I had lost, and from that day onwards, I started to realize that birds were my theme.
I have loved nature throughout the years. I have always been very observant, and small details, such as those in insects, spider webs, seeds that fly in the air, fruits, and the behavior of birds, nests, and leaves, among other wonders, have captivated me. Moreover, my twin, Nefer, studied biology, which had already had an influence on me. Thus, I focused on going deeper into the subject and developing my own style with watercolor and colored pencils.
In this process, I focused on nourishing my creativity and on getting my inner artist excited. One day, while studying birds and nature, I discovered the existence of endemism in my country, that is, birds that are only found in Costa Rica. I think that day my purpose was born. I felt very strongly that making native and endemic species known through the stories in my watercolor paintings and nature was going to be my goal. I, then, began to invent live gardens with illustrations of endemic birds, which was a beautiful laboratory, for a year. My resources were limited, but the results were good.
In December 2015, my brand Bëkuö, which means star in the indigenous Bribri language, was born. I wanted it to be linked to our roots and to always be the star that I would follow. This creative enterprise would represent my art, and it would help me to contribute to conservation through illustrated products. To be coherent with my intentions, I decided that Bëkuö would donate some of its revenues/income to conservation projects. That is how, from the very first year, I started donating to a Costa Rican foundation that educated and did research about birds of prey in the country.
In that moment the adventure that completely transformed me began. Starting up a business as an artist is taking a leap and learning to live with uncertainty. Thankfully, people seemed to like the idea behind Bëkuö and the illustrations of small gardens. However, I was clueless about how to administer a business, so I invested in business administration. Starting up my own company was not easy at all, but I was not doing so badly either. I started going to the woods to study birds, and that filled my soul. This fulfillment was reflected in my drawings, which started to get better.
However, after three and a half years, my physical health deteriorated because of the tremendous workload. This made me get insurance through our social security and hire help for the first time. Painfully, I also had to accept that the product that I was making was not profitable in practical terms. Although people loved it, I could not continue with it because it entailed too much manual labor, care for the plants, and I was not earning enough.
Then, I started to develop a collection of bottles, mugs, notepads, keychains, and magnets with my illustrations of wildlife. In addition, I started to know my target audience better in those three years, because I became one of them. I have fallen in love with rubber boots, binoculars, and field guides, and people seem to love the products too.
At this point, business started to take off. Tour companies requested many of my products. I also started to sell my goods to retail stores around the country. I even managed to take a course on naturalist illustration for a month in Mexico. By that time, I also started to donate to another conservation project called Proyecto Cabanisi (Cabanisi Project).
Sometime later the pandemic hit. For me, it was a much-needed break because an entrepreneur, in my case, must be an artist, accountant, administrator, salesperson, social network manager, customer service representative, photographer, and designer. In addition, I needed to be effcient both with time and other resources. Moreover, since Bëkuö depended on artistic production, this time allowed me to dedicate time to create and further my training at a Spanish academy that had always interested me. Six months into the pandemic, my savings started to run out, so I decided to start online bird illustration courses for beginners. I was surprised at the turnout. These courses were how I survived the pandemic.
When things started to go back to normal, I had to face the decision of whether to continue with Bëkuö or not since the products practically stopped selling. Honestly, I was very sad. It was very diffcult to get back to my feet again, but my partner, an expert naturalist, gave me the strength, support, and inspiration to remember why Bëkuö was born in the first place. That love for the natural world and conservation gave me back my strength. I, then, renewed the brand. It went from being Bekuo Arte & Diseño to Bëkuö Bosque & Ilustración. I changed the graphic line, selected the best products, and added other new ones such as socks, bandanas, and stickers. I started from scratch again, like a phoenix. By 2021, the business had already turned 6 years old, and things took o f. Tourism had a strong comeback after the pandemic just as my sales. I hired my twin sister full-time and my father seasonally, but I was afraid the income would not be enough to cover all the expenses. Still, we made a great team; we improved many things, and the business grew in its seventh year. This allowed me a trip to Colombia and another one to Ecuador to get acquainted with wildlife that inspired both my artwork and Bëkuö.
In 2023, we have grown a lot. We had the highest season ever, which allowed us to undertake challenges such as managing personnel and two stores simultaneously. I am deeply thankful for my father and my sister’s support during that year because they made me feel that I was capable. Currently, the company is more solid, and we were able to hire a professional administrator and an assistant. The intention is to have a bigger team to then start with the internationalization of the brand.
At present, Bëkuö is almost eight, and I have a very clear goal. I only illustrate species that need to be known and protected. In fact, I donate 3% of all of the revenues to the Cabanisi Project. I also create the marketing for the project and collaborate with fieldwork by monitoring nests. In addition, I have taught courses on how to paint the Pinzón Costarricense or Melozone cabanisi to make it known since it is an endangered species that is endemic to Costa Rica alone.
It is funny how people ask me to personalize illustrations. However, I have remained true to my initial intention: I want my art to have the purpose of educating and preserving. I recently included mammals as part of my artistic production, and this year I want to incorporate felines, frogs, and deepen on the depiction of the forest with botanical illustrations. Moreover, I plan on expanding the products offered by Bëkuö. I dream about Bëkuö growing and inspiring many to take care of and protect this wonderful natural world. I would also like to use its earnings to buy some hectares of forest to fulfill the dream of protecting nature.
