society

Oct. 4, 2021

KABELO MASOABI

2 min read

I’ve always had great passion for art - Budah

I’ve always had great passion for art - Budah

Local artist, Sebusiso Khohlokoane and his portrait of Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro

Story highlights

    Every art work is important due to time, energy spent on it
    Clients need to be patient as art requires time to perfect

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AS a realistic artist, Sebusiso Khohlokoane has won an upright place in the hearts of many art lovers in Lesotho and beyond its borders.

The 22-year-old artist discovered his drawing prowess at a tender age as a primary school pupil.

“Sometimes when our teacher gave us work to do in class, I would be busy drawing objects in my school book,” he recalls.

Today, Budah, as he is affectionately known, is a student at the Centre for Accounting Studies (CAS), where he is in his second-year of study for the Certified Accounting Stage Certificate, does realistic art work for clients in his spare time.

The youthful artist who hails from Ha Tšekelo in Berea relocated to Maseru to pursue his studies.

“I’ve always had a passion for art but I never did any formal art training. It was only in May when this childhood hobby of mine transformed into a promising business. This was after a friend at school asked me to draw his portrait from a photograph. After that first project, other schoolmates brought their pictures to me and I started charging them,” he says.

Most of his recent art work includes portraits of people.

Sharing his creative journey with Metro, the young enthusiastic artist says: "Every art piece I complete is important, as time and energy are spent creating it. By far my biggest personal achievement is seeing my clients happy with the end products. However, clients need to learn to be patient as it takes time to perfect a project. Each photo has its own details that need to be noted and perfected, like colour and patterns. The size of a portrait also counts.”
The most gratifying artwork he has done to date and by far his biggest personal achievement is the portrait of Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro, which is currently trending on Facebook.

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Khohlokoane says the most challenging art work he has done is creating abstract art, in which he interprets a client’s vision through his own.
"Apart from using pens, pencils, charcoal, I would like to learn to work with lots of other artistic tools like paint,” he adds.

His dream is to become a renowned artist whose influence is also felt beyond the country’s borders.

He also wishes to expand the business side of his art work so that it becomes lucrative.

About lessons learnt from life, he says some people in Lesotho do not value art the way other nations appreciate it.

“People complain that art is expensive to buy. My price list for portraits ranges from M450 to M5 300 depending on among others size, colours and certain patterns of the drawing,” he says.

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