The drawing came out so beautifully that he did not take a break with the other kids that day, fearing that someone might erase his precious drawing.
“I realised then that I had a gift that I needed to nurture,” he explained.
This was the beginning of his interest in the arts and he enthusiastically participated in any activity that had to do with art.

Mabaso was so talented that he won a scholarship to further his studies at the Open Window Institute in Gauteng where he enrolled for visual arts.
According to him, he received recognition from lecturers and it did not take long before he ended up working for a sculpture-making company belonging to one of the lecturers where he acquired most of his moulding experience.

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“I had an opportunity to take part in the moulding of sculptures of some of South Africa’s icons such as the statue of ANC veteran Chief Albert Luthuli, pop star Brenda Fassie and others,” he said.
“That experience sharpened my skills and I began winning awards with my own statues,” he said.
He later quit his job to pursue a childhood ambition of starting his own company. “I started to train students in moulding, before I decided to go solo.”

Today Mabaso has included tombstones to his statues.
He has created statues of high profile people in and around the Giyani area who want to preserve the memory of their loved ones in the form of a statue.
Mabaso said he is willing to teach gifted young people the art of moulding to use their skills to make a living for themselves.

“A lot of young people have talent but do not know where to nurture it up to a level where they are able to make a living from it, hence I’m willing to show them the ropes … especially those who have already had some exposure in moulding,” he said.
Interested people can contact him on 083 349 5036.