Art has given me chance to make a difference

By Kiundu Waweru

At only 27, Clare Mungai has a dream job and has achieved a major feat as a artist.

She not only got an opportunity to exhibit her work but has also sold most of it in less than three weeks.

"It was like a dream," says Claire excitedly.

The choice of her subject, ‘celebrating the female figure’ earned her the rare chance to exhibit the work this March to coincide with the International Women’s Day celebrations on March 8.

To many art critics, her subject and presentation are provocative. Through her work, she is raising the question: "How do we acknowledge women’s — ordinary and extra ordinary — contribution to society?

And it is not only her art that she does as a hobby that is exciting for her. She plans to use the work to raise money for bright yet poor girls to enable them get education.

"For me this is a great chance to make a difference in society," she says.

Before the exhibition, Clare’s sister, Fiona Mungai, had started an endowment fund, which would help needy children from her former school, Alliance Girls. The sisters agreed that the proceeds from Clare’s paintings would go to this fund. And as she sold her artwork, Clare nodded with satisfaction happy that her brush had made an impact to a needy girl to have a chance to decent education.

Claire works at Microsoft, a company whose owner Bill Gates is big on philanthropy.

"Seeing how my company is committed to philanthropy, I also felt I should give back to the community. I am using my talent to do that," she says.

Thus, Clare expressed her thoughts and feelings by applying paintbrush to acrylic on canvas. And as her sketches took shape and form, her only thoughts were to her mother who she says is her mentor and artistic and a big supporter of her work.

Source inspiration

And in celebration of her mother, Bernadette Mungai, Clare, painted the Motherhood Series.

"This means same subject but different angles. It shows women nurturing their babies, carrying them in their wombs and on their back, as they go on with their daily activities, truly African," she says.

Clare was apprehensive because she had had no major exhibition to her name, but she took the chance to show her Motherhood Series.

"Initially, the plan was to exhibit my work on mother’s day in June, and I decided to go book for the same at the Alliance Francaise. As luck would have it, the director had been looking for artists with women themed work to be exhibited for the month of March, in celebration of the International Women’s Day," she says.

And in March 8, Clare’s work, alongside her mentors, Patrick Mukabi, started being exhibited at the Alliance Francaise, Nairobi.

"The exhibition runs until the end of this month," she says.

She had laid her thoughts bare to the public to devour, but she was not scared of criticism but rather if there would be any people coming to see the work.

"I had worried too soon. On the opening day, about 300 people came to the exhibition and their comments, support and positive criticism was overwhelming," says Clare adding that her other worry, as is with every painter, was if anybody would be interested as to buy any of her paintings.

She says most of the paintings have been bought.

"Most were bought in the first day and I was also encouraged by a London collector who was very much interested in buying one of the paintings that unfortunately had already been bought," she says.

Clare says every day life, the goodness in people, landscapes and even the sky inspire her work.

"I grew up loving art and I wanted to major in art at the university but my parents discouraged me as art, until recently, was not much appreciated," she says.

She heeded her parent’s advice, especially her father’s, Patrick Mungai, who was a journalist.

"He reviewed art for a local daily and he had seen first hand the struggles the artists had to put up with, so he was good source of information," she says.

Though she never considered art as a hobby she would spend much time and money on, she says her study and travels around the US changed her perspective.

ClaIre did a BA in Business Administration at Baraton University, Nandi District, and then went to the US for Masters on the same at Alliant International University, San Diego.

Learning art

She graduated in 2007 and landed a job with Microsoft Corporation, in Seattle.

"While in the US, I killed my free time by painting and luckily, my neighbour, Joel, was an artist and I would use his canvases. I came back home in 2008 and early last year I thought of continuing with my hobby and I enrolled at the Nairobi Art Centre, for I had never trained in art," she says.

She bears a mouthful of a title at Microsoft –– Accounts Receivable Support Microsoft East and Southern African.

But Claire did not last at the school, as she wanted to move at a faster pace and the idea hit her that she could learn under the wings of a professional. She had heard about the renowned painter, Patrick Mukabi and soon, she joined him in his studio at Godowns Art Center, Nairobi.

"Initially, I would paint anything, and under Patrick I learnt that to make headway, I had to focus on a particular theme. He inspired me a lot, teaching me on techniques, what it takes to put an exhibition, pricing, and he has also exposed me to arts people," Claire says.

It is with this advice that she came with the theme of Motherhood Series, in celebration of her mother and other women.

"I am privileged in that I grew up in a close knit family of four, father, mum and my sister. Ours is a loving family and I strongly feel that the way children are brought up reflects how their confidence and character develops. Thus, I dedicated these paintings to mum, for her love and caring towards us," she says.

Clare had started painting from an early age, and her earliest exhibition was at Gallery Watamu at age 14. Also she had participated in Kiwi Competitions that had different themes and once, British Airways, while opening a new terminal at the Heathrow Airport, had invited painters to exhibit their work in a competition that Clare emerged a runner up.

So does fine art pay? Claire says: "My mentor Patrick, lives on art. Granted, art until recently has not been appreciated locally, but lately Kenyans are buying art to decorate their homes. Also, some restaurants are encouraging artists to exhibit their work for free in their premises as part of their corporate social responsibility," she says.

Claire says her work was mostly bought by Kenyans.

"Surprisingly, most are telling me I have under priced my work. True, while pricing, I factored in the cost of paint, brushes and canvases and a small profit margin," she told Sunday Magazine.

Her big inspirations are painters like Leonardo Da Vinci and David Shepherd, also a wildlife painter.

future plans

The women she has painted come from her observations, photographs and also imaginary. She uses African quotes as captions to give a deeper meaning to her paintings. She can paint in abstract but the current exhibition is figurative.

"Abstract is harder to interpret," she intones.

Claire says that her father, a former journalist influences her work a lot as he remains her greatest critique.

She has travelled the world, both with her family and also with her company. She has been to England, Nigeria, and while studying in America toured all the states.

"I only wanted to come back and settle home, so I took advantage of my brief stay in America to tour its expansive states especially their tourist attractions," she says.

And her travelling exposed her to the love of her life, art, as wherever she goes, she makes a point of visiting museums.

She acknowledges that she is an introvert but she can switch to an extrovert when the need be.

"I love my solitude but then again I like meeting new people and doing exciting things. For instance, my greatest moment was swimming with dolphins in Florida and I will never forget the experience. Also, seeing the Statue of Liberty was also a thrill and dream come true," she says.

Claire juggles her hobby with her job, which she says, is a fine balancing act. For now, she acknowledges that she works for a great company, and even though her art pays, she won’t quit Microsoft yet. "I would love to build my career as I also do art on the side," she says.

In her upcoming series, Claire plans to paint Kenyan landscapes and as one of the master painters she admires, Shepherd who paints wildlife in the bush.

Claire says perhaps when she retires, she will go to the wild, lean her canvas against the bushes and paint the wild animals. But that is a story for another day.