The “B” side of a successful art career in Kenya

As a child, Patrick Mukabi spent hours staring at illustrations, as he got older, this interest in art, led him to study visual arts in college. After completing the course, he got a job reprinting logos for a government institution. It was a secure job that paid well, but doing the same thing over and over again was soul-crashing he says. He longed to do something creative. He quit his job, borrowed money from his father for art supplies and started painting.?

After doing a couple of pieces, he tried selling them. He approached a gallery that paid well but unfortunately, they preferred working with artists who did abstract art. Patrick explains that he would have had to compromise his artistic integrity to be promoted. Naturally, he refused. The other art galleries did not pay as well, so, he struggled to make ends meet. At one time, he slept at a bus stop for months because he couldn’t pay rent. He would wake up at four in the morning as cold as ice praying for sunrise. Those were the longest two hours of his life, he says.?

At another time he says, he fell asleep between two ladies, who he assumed were also homeless, but they ended up stealing his money.?

Eventually, Patrick broke into the international market, which had more opportunities. He has held solo exhibitions in America and Europe, once, even, selling all his pieces on the very first night. Later, he gained recognition locally, after a chain of coffee shops (Java) put up several of his pieces. Patrick has gained a reputation as a good artist. He’s work is sought after by prestigious galleries in the country and globally. He’s also quite famous and a simple internet search will reveal a flood of stories from both local and international media. Given Patrick’s accomplishments and popularity it should be easy to sell his art, but it is not. He sometimes finds it hard to sell, just as it was when he started out. Patrick says, “I have discovered that every three years things slow down and I cannot make a sale and it can be like that for a whole year. Those are the hardest times for an artist.”

During Patrick’s more than two-decade career, he has gone through and survived several dry spells. He makes sure to avoid certain pitfalls, for example, he says “I do not subscribe to government help or anything of that nature; I have seen people die, after funds are depleted.” So, Patrick normally gets a job. Not any kind of job, but one working in the arts, he explains, “painting or fine art is like another marriage, it consumes you. You can get inspired to sketch anywhere. It is a full-time job. If you go to another job, it removes your attention from art. Your ability to notice lights and shadows diminishes.” Mukabi teaches children to draw and paint. This not only earns him some money but has, the added advantage, of broadening his skills, “when I work with the kids, I can tell them to try something not knowing how it will turn out. Then they do it and the results are remarkable. Then I use it in my pieces.”??

Artists have to hone their craft daily and Mukabi believes it is important to create even in the midst of a lull. He suggests artists use substitutes, when canvas and acrylics get finished, “some of my charcoal pieces came about because I had no paint. I took the charcoal to the next level until it become a piece and I discovered that charcoal can also work.”?

The dry spell is a phenomenon experienced by every successful artist, but most are not as candid as Patrick. Perhaps because we live in the era of social media with its over-emphasis on the need to always project an image of success, that makes them reticent. They assume talking about it would ruin their good name. But Patrick is not afraid of what people will think. He talks quite openly about the drought especially to the young people he mentors on how to get through a dry spell.?

Over the years, Patrick has seen many people quit, but now that he’s older, he finds it hard to bear, “it is sad to see someone never reaching their potential. What is he going to tell his creator or his children or the people coming behind him? An artist has a drawing hanging in a museum, on the corner, in someone’s house or in a book. They have left a mark.”? When you are around Patrick, you undoubtedly think about your purpose. You experience a longing to do more with your life. Perhaps that’s why Patrick is such an inspiration to many people.??