Colour for a cause – Meet Umdloti artist Mandy Brockbank

Walking into Mandy Brockbank’s Umdloti home gives you an instant burst of energy as you are surrounded by psychedelic animals and flowers painted on everything.

“I paint on everything paint sticks to – fridges, furniture, walls. I love in-your-face paintings. A friend once said my art is colour on steroids,” said Brockbank who moved to Umdloti three years ago after living in Sodwana Bay for 25 years.

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“I went to Sodwana for a weekend diving course and never left! I worked in the diving shop and started painting t-shirts, which I sold many millions of so one day I thought, what am I doing with t-shirts, I should put this on canvas.”

Brockbank studied graphics and fine art at Wits and leaves her mark wherever she goes.

“I cannot help it, I always want to add colour everywhere. I once won a competition with a painting of a white lion that became a book cover and went on a trip to Timbavati to see the rare creatures. I ended up painting murals and female and male lions at the entrances to the toilets.”

Besides adding colour to the world, the bright, bold and beautiful paintings also help give a future to endangered and homeless animals.

“I have done a lot for animals, from helping to raise funds for street dogs in Cape Town and turtles in Sodwana to painting educational signs for the Parks Board about sea life and plastic pollution in the ocean.

“A rhino painting of mine sold for R30 000, which went towards their conservation efforts,” said Brockbank, who lives with her equally creative partner Gary and has two children, Kai (11) and Danna (20) who is studying art in Stellenbosch.

Her work has also given the tribal community of Lake Sibaya a creative space to gather.

“When I first told my friends I was moving to Lake Sibaya, they all thought I was mad. I was the first white person to live there. I remember sitting under a tree with the nduna who gave me tribal land. He asked what I was going to do for the community and I said paint. We resurrected a dilapidated community centre built by the government. The gogos helped with the gardening, German tourists painted a mural with me and everyone worked together to make it meaningful again.”

Besides buildings, she also gives second-hand furniture a new lease on life.

“I buy old couches and chairs and then repurpose and paint them. I did one for the Sharks rugby team once which they all signed and it was auctioned off.”

After a lifetime of creating art, Brockbank said she is still shocked when she sees her art in people’s homes. “I was thrilled to discover my art in quite a few Umdloti homes, but I always have the urge to improve my work, change it and add to it.” Look out for Brockbank’s paintings at The Fat Whale in the Boulevard Centre, Ballito or find her on Facebook at Mandy Brockbank Art.

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