EENHANA –Visual artist, David Johannes, based here is one of the few painters who still can boast of earning a living from his talents.
Due to lack of local appreciation of visual arts, most of the young artists are finding it hard to market their works but David says he is a happy young man who is living on his passion for painting. The 25-year-old visual artists use canvas, oil, board, turpentine and set of brushes for his pieces. He does portraits, landscape images and many other paintings, according to his client’s requests. “I thank God for making me realise that my passion for art would be enriched by going to school and attending a vocational training school. At school I realized that I could do more than just drawings and I learnt paintings. To this day, I am proud and I live on it,” says David.
He has worked in a visual art pieces for Usko Nghaanwa Combined School here for almost a year, and his passion for art has grown in leaps and bounds. He is currently on a Bricklaying and Plastering course with the Eenhana Vocational Training Centre (EVTC) while planing to enroll for a Visual Arts course at the College of the Arts (COTA) upon completing his vocational course. Why Bricklaying and Plastering and Visual Arts? He explains that most of the youths do not know the importance of combining bricklaying and arts. “Look at the houses we see in Windhoek, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and in Ongwediva, they are nicely designed because of artistic skills and that is exactly what I want to do as a young Namibian. To take art to the highest level through bricklaying,” he explains.
It usually takes David two to three weeks to complete a painting, depending on its size and from each piece he makes at least a steady living while undergoing training at the EVTC. “I am glad to have built a very reliable clientele. Among those I have done portraits and paintings for are the former Governor for Ohangwena region, Usko Nghaanwa, who is now one of the newly elected Swapo MPs in the 6th Parliament, deaf learners at the school and other notable personalities in the region. I have done paintings for many other prominent people who are keeping the portraits in their homes,” he says.
His greatest challenge is not only that few people understand the value of his works but most of the local clients want their portraits for very low prices, which he says is not good for his business. Apart from that he has designed logos for most of the schools in the region. “The local market for painting is rather low and there are few schools that pay very well, which is why people undervalue the artistic products.”
David says the material he uses to paint are very expensive and hence he is compelled to ask high prices has to make his art sustainable. Born at Onambutu in the Ohangwena region, David, attended Onambutu Combined School where he started arts drawing while in Grade 7. “When I discovered this talent and got interested in drawing, I then took it up seriously until now as you can see these paintings and some of the works I have done so far. Apart from that, when I enrolled for Bricklaying and Plastering course at EVTC, technical drawing is one of the subjects and I have decided to take it further with my course because I have many chances of succeeding with the subject and bricklaying in future.”
However, he advises other up and coming artists to focus on this interesting but sometimes frustrating career. “Fellow and mostly young up and coming visual artists should persevere and work hard for money will not come easy in this profession. One has to struggle, should create a market for the products he works on,” he says.