 a very very good Tuesday morning to you. You are watching Why in the Morning only on Y254 TV and as you know today is Enterpreneurship Tuesday and it's about time we get to know some of the individuals the young people and the senior people who are making moves and making these checks but starting us off today we have somebody who is passionate about art and we want us to meet the entrepreneur he goes by the name of Timo Chola he's a landscape artist and a graduate but he has decided to take his art in on a different direction completely and I love it so today in studio it's warm and it's earthly and it's bright and it's full of acrylic so make sure you do catch up with us on social media you can find us at Y254 channel the hashtag is why in the morning hashtag Enterpreneurship Tuesday on facebook at Y254 on instagram Y254 underscore channel on dstv channel 376 on signet 824 and on sat times 54 so do delve into the conversation Timo Chola Kairibu Sana Y254 selling me a water thank you thank you thank you Hilda for having me and giving me this opportunity to share with you what I'm working on my arts and what I'm about it's a pleasure yeah so please tell us I'm hearing you're a graduate of architecture yes so how did you find yourself becoming a painter especially of acrylics and athlete colors like this yeah okay actually I'm a graduate of landscape architecture it's in the same line but a bit different because on the outdoors but also I've been doing arts since I was really small not really I wasn't really the best since I can remember anything because I'd get crayons and you know sketchbook those are my gifts for my holidays and stuff so yeah I carried it on over the years and being in architecture school gave me that like the skills like to take it on and I really enjoyed it so it's just fell into place I can say it just fell into place why did you decide you wanted to play with african african culture wildlife I can see a lot of sand colors here a lot of earth colors acrylics what happened like from architects to painter to this deep person who is focusing on mental wellness please let us know what happened oh well okay for me like this video about uh the echo was talking about how Africa packages itself echo and the artist yes yes yes and you see for us in Africa we have a lot to share the wildlife the culture and and all that and as an African artist it's like an inheritance you see you have a responsibility for your culture to take it on because you can imagine the technology and the development and everything our culture is slowly fading away and as artists we have to we are like the custodians of culture so the only way we can take it on is through imagery and the arts and music and stuff and for me I like to really imagine my happy place is my utopias is that place in Africa with so much energy so much color and that's what I bring into my artwork and I hope in future my artwork will be like a reference for what goes on in Africa in terms of the culture and you know just the daily activities that we do the wildlife just the beauty of Africa I mean I want to show that to the world and I want to be that person to to take it on globally okay so because uh it because today is about entrepreneurship and it's about the money let's talk about some of the materials that you use and how did you afford them did you support yourself are you are you self-made or do you have a team yeah let us know okay um as an artist first of all you have to be an entrepreneur to survive because art is a really tricky field in the arts generally you have to be really creative in creative in how you make your money so I started really small I started by doing competitions just like Manjano it's a competition that guys do yeah and you know the small steps you do one and you get the response it might be good or bad but you can always see the light at the end you see so that's that's what uh that's what I started I started by doing competitions I do art on weekends or partying and doing stuff and doing art and also I just use the cheap materials like every artist you start with pencils get the basics right uh the figure the figures the perspectives that's what I really started so as as time went by and buy acrylics they are quite affordable you can save up and just get Kedogo then slowly build up so I went from acrylics to oils then when I could sell a few pieces here and there I decided to go bigger and use better materials better quality materials for for that for that uh for just just bring that better quality work out there you've talked about participating in competitions did you win any I'm not yet how many have you done so far maybe two or three oh so it's still still not so many you still have a chance yeah but then when you know when you know it's a marathon man whether you win or lose as long as you did something man it keeps it keeps you going maybe next time I win something but then you know also as an as an entrepreneur you can't depend on competitions to like make your money so you have to really strategize lay it out see if you can do some shows see if you can do some portraits see if you can work with organizations with different themes just to bring out what you're about and what they're about you know it's it's it's it's it's like on both sides you can't be an artist without the community so you really have to work with the community speaking of bringing your work out how did you put yourself out there how did you get yourself into those competitions in the first place well uh there's always an open call so when there's an open call uh you just submit your work and there's a jury to choose maybe the best 40 or something is there any platform in specific where people can go and register to participate in competitions the most common one is manjano it's it just ended yeah it's it's a good starting point if you're a starting artist and also you okay they're normally posted now in social media you can get information just type in their call for art and stuff and you'll get a few competitions you can you can participate in but then you have to really get the basics right so people should use the internet to also do research on some of these competitions if they want to put their work out yeah you have to embrace the world because you can't believe in utopia the internet is there it's there for us we have to use it and it's also a big part of art at brand new ship all right so tell me about the first piece you sold what was it about and um and how much did you even sell it for or is that a secret yo yeah that's that's a secret but okay what was a lot of mystery in art so okay so what tell me about your first piece the first piece that you ever saw somebody was like okay you know what i'm gonna pay for this what was it about uh okay the first piece i ever sold it was really it's a really nice story because okay it was through my mom i showed me someone really liked it yeah and i was i was really happy to say it i said i sold it at a good price but then when i went home for my holidays i found it in the house so yeah my mom bought it and i never knew for like close to six months i was like yo this really happened and you know that's that's why as an artist you need that support okay when you have the support you can push yourself and you can see the hope because most of the time artists don't take it on because of like you don't see how far you can take it you know but if you have a good support system it's it's it's good so the support system is important when it comes to this particular industry and if you don't have one create one get one or if you don't have one create one like if you need it you need by the end of the day you're not like you're not alone in this world okay get some other artists because you go through things together which will strengthen you if you have a strong heart for the craft you'll take it on okay so take me through your creative process i'm seeing some really really uh fascinating use of colors here and um please take me please take me through i don't know if we can start with this one that's right next to me take me through your creative process what was going on here well okay i'm i'm a huge fan of african wildlife and what it's it's really all about and also i believe art has to be unique it has to be thought-provoking so i i try to think about that when i'm composing for a piece sometimes yeah you have to think about it like look at it and think about it so like right there you have an african boy on top of a buffalo and it's a hard you know so there i'm just talking about leadership and yeah it doesn't you don't have to be like really old yeah really old and like so wise to be a leader you can really start small yeah you can really start small and that's that's what i was really portraying there because you know buffaloes are pretty aggressive yes yeah and for for that boy to like tame them and have like a heart behind it it means there's something special in him and like when i think about the paintings i think of them in a different world the ideal world like africa in its ideal sense you know and that's actually what i had there and yeah we have the birds and also i use the color to create like an illusion of space because if you look at the painting you can see the depth and you know at least get get into it it's like a movie man it's like a movie up in here yeah just just get into all world and create so that's that's how you do it okay i like that i like that idea i can see i can see you're very deep when it comes to how you're doing your images yeah so let's talk about that one what inspired that one i can see a woman who looks like she's levitating yeah yeah what is happening there this is a lot of spiritual minds here even the colors itself wow makes me feel so type way anyway yeah so what's happening with this lady well um it's about the african woman you know i'm really thinking about freedom and being able to express yourself and the levitation is is that point when you are in a different space you know it's a spiritual space so like you're free from all the restrictions of the world and stuff and you're able to fly so when you look at the at the at the painting itself it gets brighter as it yes it gets brighter yes yeah that's that's very symbolic man the the more you you're you embrace freedom the more you embrace yourself the more the light shines on you man and that's that's that's what i was really talking about it's a it's a bit mystic and stuff but it's it's all about freedom man we need that right now we need that for african we need that for african women and that's what i'm really thinking about when i'm doing this so this levitation is causing her to elevate yeah just just elevate me wow embrace yourself elevate float up feel free that's what i was thinking about here feel free so brand echo please please we have somebody else with another piece of yours here please come with it yeah you can come right here stand here yeah so yes so tell me about the elephant and the two children the two african children i'm seeing here yeah so still still on the african vibes wildlife and there's lots lots of love in africa man when you are when you are young we used to be really close and that can be portrayed on both sides both in humans and the wildlife and well elephants are really lovely and you know this extinction there's so much change in the world extinction yeah so is it extinction of love in africa or what's happening yeah you just how you see it man because that you can interpret it differently yes so that's okay here we're really looking at the spirit in itself because the spirit of the animals you can see of the spirit of the children yes so there's that closeness there's that because the children they don't look necessarily happy yes they look like they're in thought you know yeah so there's that there's that thought in them both the children the animals that tries to ask us like what's next for the world you know what's what's next for the for future because these are like baby elephants you can see the task yes yes yeah like what's in it for us in this world yeah so some of the pieces are really contemplative when i see it and i think about myself about our society about the world i try to portray it in my pieces and that's that's that's what comes out here so where does the mental wellness come in like is it the color is it the feel i'm what what is it what is it oh well okay for me when i started really like serious art i wasn't really at the ideal space and you know when you get not only in visual arts but the creative mind really gets at peace when it creates you know so when i started painting like seriously i'd get so like relieved after it so there was that just just being in it and doing it because you get so immersed you're in a different world like whatever i'm doing here you can see i mean i mean a really different space i mean if you're going through so much you need that space for yourself just to think about stuff just to ponder about things and you know by the end of it you feel a bit free you might not necessarily get the solutions to whatever you're thinking about but you get to to feel relaxed you know it's the same for the feeling of getting art the feeling it's the same thing with fitness you know you do it for a couple of hours or something and after it you feel relieved you know you get the energy to do to do life man because life has to keep going yeah so that's that's actually what i was thinking in terms of mental wellness it's important and sometimes it's hard so things like art music that's why we listen to music a lot because it takes us to a different space you need that utopia kind of space utopia and i like i like your idea of utopia you know young people are really going through this whole depression and people don't really know how to let off the emotions and like the fact that you told them that this this is a solution yeah it is it's part of it well you can say it's it's part of getting to the solution part of getting to the solution you have to really sort out the problem you know and this is like an escape for you an escape yeah it's like an escape and you can get time to think about it in a different uh kind of light you know all right all right okay don't go i could asante sanna we can take this piece always yeah so tell me how long does it take you on average to come up with a painting like this a portrait like this how long uh it can take from a couple of hours to a few days hours there's something i've done in hours yeah goodness because okay you know it's art is really spiritual look at art you look at music this there's a spirit in every kind of music you listen to there's a spirit in every kind of art you do so it really depends on the energy sometimes you can wake up and you feel so inspired the idea is clear it won't take you long to bring it through yeah just i'm free hours um but that's that's a very energetic day like you're really really in the mood sometimes it can also take a couple of days not that you're working all through but because you just need some time to compose you need some time to like uh you know to digest the idea you have and stuff so it's it's really it's really it's really different uh it depends on the piece and whatever you're working on but that that does not mean that if you take a shorter time on camping it's not that it's not gonna be good enough the soul in it energy in it that's that's what matters for art wow so it's not really about the amount of time you take it's just about it's just about the quality of work that you put out quality of work and also it depends on the style some styles still take more yeah if you're really going for the realism hyper realism kind of way you'll have to take more time because yeah if that's technical there's some things in art you can't trash so depending on the technique artists are different and also as you structure your business as an art renewer you are freely taking into consideration how long you take for every piece because that shows your production rate and you can see how you balance it out okay so that also comes in when you're pricing your commodities like if this one took you a very long time to do you do tend to add more value to this it's it's part of the factors but not necessarily but it helps you structure your business okay because as an artist you are a freelance artist there's no one to tell you like you have to wake up at this time so that helps you with planning and changing whatever you're doing wow so let's talk about some of the challenges in your industry this particular industry the art industry in Kenya what would you change about it if you could change something about it well um there's so many challenges but some are bearable some are not let's start with with the unbearable yeah the unbearable okay as a as a starting artist you'll have a hard time getting your work out but that's there's a solution to that you can build your social media because art is visual so you put your work out there so just giving opportunities for for artists to show showcase their work and that's the only way you know we have to think about it cumulatively because you're competing against the world it is to be a we have we have to really have a strong presence in our own country and to improve the quality they have to be shows so that the old artists can meet with the younger artists and you can see the quality to look up to mentorship oh mentorship that's that's very important getting your work out and also there's that you know art art is a very art is like diamonds man so the the structure used to sell art is a bit different so you need to merge to find a way to to merge like the clients with the that artists hidden somewhere because you know we have artists so much good work but it hasn't been seen yet so you kind of did uh the the industry needs more brokers more people to introduce more to artists yeah like middlemen not yeah middlemen yeah i'd say middlemen and also it's the responsibility falls on on everyone you know because as the as an artist you have to really reach out and get those professionals so that the country really values art because still the value of art is not is not so strong here and that's why globally we still aren't competing as as much as we can because for that you need resources and that's financial so it means people have to really understand the value of art yeah so it's just imagine the clients with the with the artists and also creating the value you know it's it's a cumulative thing like i said you can't be an artist without the community so it needs both sides to like you know you enlighten the like that you can be an artist without the community because you're talking about people you're talking about uh life like wildlife and stuff yeah so for for me it's just more opportunities for artists to showcase their work uh more mentorship opportunities yeah but that now is on the artist side like reach out reach out it helps getting a mentor in business helps with your trade it doesn't have to be necessarily uh in in the arts also you do need some kind of assistance it's not it's not a one show okay let's talk about some of the things we can celebrate about the art industry here in kenyan aside from all the challenges at least i like the fact that you've given us a challenge and the solutions so now what can we celebrate yeah um there's a lot to celebrate uh with the technology the internet coming through guys are getting enlightened you can see the quality of work outside you can see different forms of art and you know that has given the the youth like an opportunity to really explore to go out of their way so i think that that's that's one thing you can celebrate and also the client base is growing in as much as it's not growing as as fast as we want it's it's growing those small steps will go a long way and uh i like the fact that now with instagram the facebook and everything you can now go global you don't have to like depend on the infrastructure the previous infrastructure so much you have your work can be seen on a global on a global perspective that has expanded your client base you need that for africa all right so so how do you keep your clients coming back to you like me definitely if i buy this which i will i think i will buy i love the ask and i love the sign i've told you i've been thinking about it ever since i've seen them so how do you keep your clients coming back well i think it's in the quality uh and how you relate to to your clients that's that's actually the most important thing your relationship with your clients that's the only way you can bring quality to the table because if you value someone like honestly you don't give them like a product that's really out of their standards you know so first thing is the relationship with their clients and also yeah you just you just do your best man as an artist you owe yourself that you owe yourself to do your best and give you the best work out it's a lifelong thing wow because i'm something if you don't do it at your best now it will come to you in the future true yeah so quality always quality counts quality counts i was even just about to ask if you have any words of inspiration for the artist but it appears you've said so much so is there any parting shot or what keeps you going let me put it like that what motivates you what what gives you a reason to wake up and paint someone like what what are you about what's team about well um for me what keeps me going because it's just one thing i know i know this nothing else i'd rather do but art and also i've recognized that it's it's a marathon yeah it's it's it's a lifelong kind of thing because that's that's the only way i can i can be at peace when some things are not going well or something but i try as much as i can to go all out so once i just know it's a marathon i know there's a good cause to it because i'm all about africa more all about taking africa uh to where it's supposed to be the future the future is in africa africa is very unexplored in some ways and that's that's that's kind of my responsibility yeah and i owe that to my ancestors i owe that to the african people that's what keeps me going every day so when so what next for you now that you said there's nothing else you'd rather do like what's next for you uh well for now i still want to improve on the quality of my work yeah because the only way is up uh i want to really get my work out there compete globally yeah and interact with artists globally so that we see where we can place africa you know yeah and yeah for now we'll be having a show uh from 8th to 2nd that's where we'll be showing our best works i'll be with two other artists samil utair and steve lance also great artists uh and i think for that show i'll be i'll be standing on the shoulders of giants and we'll have we'll have some really nice work so from there now you can see the direction you're going okay it's it's going to be better definitely more imaginative you're getting into that space you're getting into that happy space and that's in it for me happy happy space for artists that happy space okay i'm so excited about your life so what time we conclude this interview i have really enjoyed listening to you and your ideas and your wow it's amazing taking africa to the world thank you so much for making time for us and by the way he's a very young man anyway you're watching entrepreneurship tuesday thank you so much for starting our day on a bright note on a talented note thank you yes my name is hilda wadidhi please do not go anywhere bye you must us enjoy much better we'll be coming up with some more goodness on entrepreneurship tuesday