Painting for the love of it
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday January 22, 2023 06:00
Born in Zimbabwe 37 years ago, it was no coincidence that Brown fell in love with art at a young age, about 10 years.
The talented artist grew up in South Africa but migrated to Maun, Botswana, in 1999 where he has been residing ever since.
By then, Brown had already become fond of drawings as both his parents were hobby artists. “I grew up with parents doing art as a hobby and that’s what influenced me.
My father was an oil painter and my mother was a watercolour painter, so I always watched them paint,” he said. But it was his grandparents who bought him his first watercolour paints as they noticed his love for art. “I would read art books, copy some of the artworks in there and try to draw them. It was a form of practice I would say,” he explained.
Following a successful exhibition in Maun before the end of the year, the artist was this week in Gaborone for another exhibition at the Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited (BIHL).
Brown sat down with Arts & Culture to share his career development as an artist. Brown said he continued painting throughout his teen years during their time in Maun before the family relocated to Kasane.
The family relocated to Kasane in 2004 where Brown became even more consumed by art. They were living in Lesoma Valley where wild animals are in abundance. Brown might have been greatly inspired by his new surroundings as he started to focus on painting wildlife, especially elephants. “There were so many elephants where we lived and that’s when I started to enjoy painting wildlife especially elephants. There was an art gallery in Kasane where I displayed my paintings.
I started being exposed to international wildlife artists and I could see original artworks. That’s where I got the exposure,” he said. The talented artist says he is fascinated by the everyday lives of the citizens on the countryside. He explained that his work shows how the environment could inspire great interest from a visitor while the inhabitants might not find it fascinating at all. After the family moved back to Maun in 2011, Brown says he decided to enter the Thapong Artist of The Year (TAYA) competition, which he eventually won.
He would go on to retain it in 2012. “I then decided to take the prize money and bought a professional camera, which I use to take pictures for reference,” he added. Brown, who is a Thapong Arts Visual Centre member, says the centre has been very helpful throughout his art journey. Brown says despite his deep rooted love for art, he has taken up a job as a Pest Control Specialist and does art on part-time basis in the evenings. “I have been doing it part time because unfortunately art hasn’t given me the income that I need to sustain my life. But I continue to paint in the evenings. Sometimes I sleep at 1am just painting,” he said. He said painting brings him joy as he finds the process of bringing an idea into a live fun, enjoyable and relaxing. Brown stated that he finds the local art industry behind in terms of quality compared to others in the region.
He advised local artists to strike a balance between the business of art and the creative aspect. He said for artists to be successful they should take their career like a 9am-5pm job. “To be successful you don’t only need to be an artist but also a business person. Produce artworks, market and sell them. We can’t expect government to always buy our artworks. Take advantage of the Internet and reach out to the world,” He advised artists not to be sentimentally attached to their artworks and sell them at reasonable prices.