Voi painter with a Midas touch

By PASCAL MWANDAMBO

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”  This is as seen by Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Well a Voi-based painter is on his way to making a fortune.

A few years ago when Andrew Omenda Were a.k.a Madolla was asked by a traffic police officer to travel with him to Malindi to go and make paintings for the officer’s bar in Malindi, little did he know that a window of vast opportunity was about to open for him.

The painter says he made very impressive artwork of different wildlife species on the walls of the bar, which aroused the interest of tourists who visited the pub.

“Tourists liked my paintings of wildlife which they said were lifelike and quite attractive. From there my artwork opened more opportunities in Malindi and I had to stay longer than I had initially planned,” says the painter.

He says after completing the artwork at the pub some tourists asked him to make oil paintings for them largely on wildlife and landscapes.

“I was very lucky because at that time another Italian investor by the name Angelo who loved my artwork very much gave me free art materials, including oil paints, solvents and canvas,” recalls Madolla exuberantly. 

“I set out to make canvas paintings of different wildlife species especially the big five — lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo, and elephant. In total I made 25 canvas paintings.”

The painter says all the paintings were bought instantly earning him a cool Sh120,000 with each painting going for Sh5,000.

art lovers

“That might sound little to some established painters but for me who was making a fresh start, this was quite an achievement,” the painter told Business Beat.

Since then there was no looking back for the 40 year old. On returning to Voi he decided to take art more seriously.

“The value of art lies in the eyes of the beholder. It’s all about the feelings it arouses in the art lover. One can pay a good some for art if at all he or she appreciates its sentimental value” Madolla said.

He is quick to point out that any artist who would like to make money from his work should produce what his customers want otherwise one might make great paintings and fail to make money simply because no one appreciates it.

“I meet many art lovers who want various forms of art and I listen to them very keenly to understand what exactly they want,” says Madolla.

For instance he points out that he has met art lovers from the Muslim faith who love landscape paintings but without wildlife.

“I love painting wildlife but in such cases I have to abide by the wishes of my customers since I would be doing myself a great disservice by imposing my tastes on them. They would simply refuse to buy the art pieces,” says the painter.

A close examination of Madolla’s paintings reveals a keen mastery of colour mixing techniques, which enables him to produce artwork rich in texture and mood. The artist stands out in his ability to produce painting, which evoke a somber and intense atmosphere as revealed in his painting of a storm tossed sailboat on high seas.

The mixture of deep green and azure blue to reinforce the colour of tempestuous waters makes the mood of the painting somber and even a bit scaring.

Another painting which could as well be titled ‘Date with destiny’ shows a man fleeing from a lion but as he climbs a tree by the river bank, he finds a big snake hanging down his head while at the river bank a crocodile mouth agape is waiting to devour him should he jump into the river.

impressive gains

This is a commendable mastery of fine art styles and more so for an artist who has never been into a fine art class!

He says he had been inspired to draw landscape paintings from an early age while a pupil at Mukuyu Primary School in Kitale in the now Trans Nzoia County, where Cherangani Hills, popularly referred to as the ‘Rolling Hills’ formed the backdrop of his artwork.

But in the formative years he mainly experimented with crude paints made from flower extracts and some types of soil which when ground to fine powder and mixed with water, produced a kind of crude paint.

After coming to Voi, the picturesque Taita Hills and the wildlife in Tsavo served as inspiration for his works of art.

He says art pays well and has brought up his family from the earning from it. However, he says the gains from art can be quite erratic and one needs to be good at saving. “Sometimes you make impressive gains and feel above the clouds and at times no buyers are forthcoming to buy your artwork. The trick here is for one to be very good at saving during windfalls in order to survive when skies turn grey,” Madolla concludes.