Tshemedi steered to the arts
Thato Kala | Sunday December 8, 2013 21:10
He remembers that while his peers pushed around toy cars; he had his own mud car, proudly made by his hands.
After discovering his ability to sculpt, his next mission was to carve his much-loved animal – the giraffe.
Over the years, he keyed out his niche and followed it through.
The 19-year-old drawer left sculpting immediately after outgrowing toys and is now into sketching. It is working pretty well for him.
“I loved playing with toys when I was young, but I could not have them so I moulded my cars and other stuff,” he tells Arts & Culture.
His young mind came to terms with the fact that her mum would be wasting money if she bought him toys and thought to eliminate that cost on her behalf.
His elder sister, Lebo, recalled his first two sculpted pieces.
“I remember the car he made as a small boy. He was quite young. Sometimes he would mix different colours of paints and come up with a funny colour,” she said.
Like any parent with so many responsibilities, Tshemedi’s mother overly welcomed his skill; especially considering it saved her a few thebes.
“She was very happy; she did support me quite a lot. She helped me find some connections later on which were important to my art,” said the young artist.
He relished the transition from sculpting to picking up a pencil and paper to sketch.
“I can do anything related to art and I always want to try out new things,” he said, adding that adores drawing more than any other aspect of art.
“I just want to be the best at what I do, I really love drawing,” said the Serowe-born artist.
He credited his family for his art development saying that they always told him he was very talented.
To date, his favourite piece he drew is of a man he saw in a magazine.
“My favourite piece would be one of a guy I saw in a picture and drew. I feel I nailed it on that one,” he said.
And true, he did.
Each time his family sees him close his bedroom door behind him, or stressing on keeping the noise levels down, they know the young man is now at work.
“I prefer a quiet environment when I do my work because you can concentrate when it’s quiet,” said the talented artist.
The former Gaborone Secondary School student is bracing for his first exhibition at Thapong next January.
He is convinced that is the start of new fortunes for him in art.
Tshemedi is not worried about the level of art appreciation in the country.
“I think it all depends on how appealing whatever you would have done is to the public. People believe in quality,” he says.
He picks on Wilson Nguni as his inspiration.
He said: “I just love his work.
The way he does his work is so different, he makes them look so unique and they come out so accurate.”
His favourite piece by Nguni is one titled The Pregnant Skeleton.
“I think most of his work is relevant to our day to day lives,” he said.
Internationally, he admires Leonardo Da Vinci saying that when he first saw his works he immediately picked the mood the artist was in when he did it.
Interestingly, he said he wants to take all of the creativity and exposure he got and use it in an architectural career in future.
Despite the closeness of art to architecture, he vowed it could never replace the process of picking up the pencil to sketch on a plain white sheet of paper.
He received Best Student in Art accolade at Matlala in 2011.
“I was quite happy and believed I was really talented.
I wanted to show the world what I can do,” he said.
The most important thing, Tshemedi said, is to stick to one’s passion and continue with it.