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A trio of fine art students from WSU Buffalo City Campus dabbed, whipped and stroked their way into a former president’s heart when they produced an enchanting portrait that sought to ensure the moment would forever be engrained in his memory.
Following his captivating Walter Sisulu Memorial Lecture in Johannesburg recently, former president Thabo Mbeki was presented with an oil-on-canvas produced by advanced diploma students Cebo Matutu, Luyolo Nonyashe and Asenathi Botshiwe.
“We used the realism with scumbling and blending technique to produce this painting. It took us all of three days to complete it and we agreed to use a combined colour palette of seven primary to tertiary colours,” said Matutu.
He said there was no set plan or schedule as to who would exactly be responsible for what, only that when inspiration hit and the hand started getting itchy, one was expected to put brush to canvas and place their piece of the puzzle in pursuit of producing a decent piece of art.
Botshiwe, whose interest in art was ignited during his primary school days, said he was humbled to have been afforded an opportunity to produce a work of art that would be presented to a person of the stature of a former president.
“I feel overwhelmed that I’ve been given an opportunity to showcase my talent to our former president Thabo Mbeki. The fact that a project I was intimately involved in producing could maybe hang on his wall it truly mind-blowing. Such opportunities and occurrences are extremely rare and must be celebrated,” he said.
His counterpart, Nonyashe, said that one of his most treasured qualities about art as a discipline is its ability to soothe the soul, provide different perspective to prevailing issues, as well as forcing one to be self-sustainable because of the entrepreneurial nature of the industry.
By Thando Cezula
