From a very young age, before he even went to school Patrick was drawing
whenever he found a spare moment. He describes his natural ability to
be able to draw and paint so well as a "God-given talent" and
it was always something that he wanted to do all his life. He went to
the local school in Simonstown and it was when he came home in the afternoons
that he learnt a lesson that he feels is very important. His father was
a full time teacher and when he came home in the evenings he would mark
his classes' books. When Patrick was in Standard 3 he went into his own
father's class and in the afternoons he would sit with his father and
watch him mark the books and do his homework. His father told him then
that everything had to be done properly. If you started something then
it should be finished and that if you want to score your goals in life,
then you have to try hard and not give up until your task is completed.
High School
The first high school that Patrick went to was Heathfield which was situated
in the Cape Flats. He then went to Genadendal High School which was in
the Caledon area before going to the art school in Woodstock where he
learnt a lot and created things like labels, postcards etc. Apart from
art Patrick also had a keen interest in classical music. His favorite
two instruments are the cello and the piano and he really wishes that
he could play them.
Careers
Patrick's first job was at the Sanlam Insurance Company. He soon moved
on to work at the ABSA bank, but his heart was never in his work and art
kept calling him. He described his work to be by saying it was like eating
onions. You really don't like them but you get told that they are good
for you, so you eat them with a blocked nose. Patrick then went to an
art exhibition in Johannesburg in 1994. It was at the exhibition that
he saw a life size shack. The shack looked so realistic that he felt as
if he wanted to meet the family that lived inside. Patrick decided that
he would try to bring that image into other peoples' houses but he would
have to bring the size down as not many people can fit a shack in their
house, so in 1996, Patrick quit his job and went into art full time, because
even though he had been doing sketches as a hobby this was not enough
to fulfil his love for art.
However, art did not bring in a lot of money but he didn't give up. At
one stage though he had absolutely nothing. So for the first time he sat
down and did a three-dimensional painting. He then had to steal a ride
on a train to get to the art gallery in Cape Town. He went in with his
painting and thought that he would be laughed at but when the shopkeeper
saw this new style she was amazed and gave Patrick R65 (which was a nice
amount of money back in those days) for the painting. Now at least he
would catch the train home legally and get a loaf of bread, some milk
and some tea. Patrick was overjoyed. The paintings were wanted all the
time and Patrick could hardly keep up with all the orders. At first it
took him about seven days to complete a painting but now he takes about
five days per painting. He has changed his technique as well. He now uses
masonite as a base for his acrylics, whereas he used to use cardboard.
He has always painting either still lives, usually of bowls of fruit,
or paintings of District Six which brings back a lot of memories. However,
none of the buildings he paints are still there as the government sadly
destroyed it during the apartheid. He does his sawing and cretestone work
outside, and then the painting inside. Patrick now lives in Eerste River
where he finds life simple. He says now that he is painting, he feels
satisfied with life.
However, he was sadly hijacked and driven around by four men for 34 hours
about a month or two ago, but he says that he prayed and he could somehow
see himself driving home the next day and that everything would be alright.
Patrick has two well-known artists that are very close to him. The one
is Dr Peter Clarke who is well known overseas and the other is Willie
Bester who is more local to the Western Cape. Patrick looks up to and
admires Willie Bester. He is a sculptor but also does paintings using
scrap metal and Patrick says that the paintings he does are amazing. Patrick
is going to keep on working with his amazing art. He feels that he still
has so much to learn and he says to younger artists that the only way
they will become artists is to keep trying and never give up.
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Artist: PATRICK MOKHUANE
Title: District 6
Size: 30 x 52 cm
Media: Mixed media
ID: 29213
Price: R 21 000 Framed
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