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Patrick Kariuki with some of his paintings
Armed with a large portrait of flamboyant Nairobi senator Mike Mbuvi Sonko, Patrick Kariuki early last year approached Sonkos’ car, which was parked at the Hotel Intercontinental, and knocked on its window.
Impressed with the portrait, Sonko fished out Sh15,000 for Kariuki — his first commercial sale of a painting.
That could not have happened had Kariuki not known one of Sonkos’ bodyguards, though.
So, here he was, earning a living from his talent, which was quite something considering that he lost both his parents when he could barely reach his mother’s knee, ending dreams of pursuing secondary education.
“I cannot remember when I lost my father. I, however, remember that my mother passed on when I was four,” he recalls.
The only child had to learn resilience, fast.
After Sonko, Kariuki approached former presidential aspirant Gatanga Peter Kenneth.
The 26-year-old had been referred to the politician by one of his close friends. The former Gatanga MP bought the painting for Sh6,000.
But now his paintings have shot to Sh80,000. His style is impressionism.
That is a style of art in which an artist captures an image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it. The other style is cubism, basically an artistic impressions expressed into a multifaceted surface of geometrical.
“I prefer painting in acrylics and charcoal on canvas,” says Kariuki, whose materials include acrylics, besides art impressions using woodcuts, greeting cards and collage.
Kariuki says everything around him in shapes, lines and colours for inspiration. He also loves music, explaining his artistic portrayal of musical instruments or people dancing.
While 2013 has not been good for art business, “the introduction of art auctioning means the future can only brighter,” says Kariuki, citing the Circle Art Agency organised auction that saw Sane Wadu sell one of his works for Sh1.5 million.
To supplement his income, Kariuki holds art classes during school holidays and picks the lack of an art buying culture among Kenyans as one of the biggest challenges of a budding artist.
