Pupil (17) dreams of ‘art poetry’
This young man also wants to be a designer, architect and businessman
SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Hoërskool Birchleigh learner Themba Mbisi has big dreams of becoming an all-in-one diverse artist with skills in design and architecture.
“I want to be a professional artist and take art to the next level by creating new generation art. To do this, I wants to start ‘art poetry’ with a friend of mine who is a poet,” the young man eagerly explains.
Art poetry will be a combination of art and poetry, where my friend Bright will perform his poetry while I paint at the same time. The painting will have the same theme as the poem being performed.
Mbisi, who is originally from Tembisa but now lives in Birch Acres with his parents, has no formal art training but is already creating masterpieces at his young age.
“I started drawing at the age of eight when I used to play around with a pencil and paper, sketching little stick men and things like that. My very first sketch was of a man running. Soon I discovered I could draw much more than that,” Mbisi said.
The teenager realised his true potential, which was also recognised by his art teacher at school, when he was asked by the teacher to create a painting on the classroom wall. Mbisi was given complete creative freedom on what he could paint.
“That’s how my very first painting of the Titanic came about. I enjoy creating art with lots of detail, such as ships, townships and shacks. I like my paintings to have lots of technical design, hence my interest in architecture.”
His Titanic painting on the classroom wall took him only a month to complete, with the sketching taking about three weeks to finish.
At the moment, he is busy with his second painting, also on the classroom wall, depicting a busy township area with different houses and shops.
“The inspiration for my second painting comes from growing up in Tembisa, a township, where there are many things happening. The place always has some kind of activity going on; which allows for lots of detail, such as the shacks, the different kinds of houses, the spaza shops, the people with their stands sitting on the side of the walkways and people walking on the streets.”
Mbisi believes his talent is a gift from God and wants to make more of it. “My art talent is a gift from God which He gave me to explore the world, Art is who I am.”
In five to 10 years time, he wants to start his own art school and gallery to give other up and coming artists an opportunity to display their work.
He has not entered any art competition yet but “as soon as I get the opportunity, I will go for it”.
