Nicholas Odhiambo Mboya, Kisumu, Kenya

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 My name is Nicholas Odhiambo Mboya aka Nikomambo. I am a 23 year old artist and a student at the Mwangaza Art School in Kisumu on Lake Victoria, Kenya. My major is in pencil, coloured pencil and charcoal. I started arts at the age of 6, drawing on any blank surface I could find. Growing up as young boy was not easy for me, since I was different from other kids, while other kids were playing soccer, I was watching TV, not just ordinary programs, but interviews with artists and great people doing what they were passionate about. This really inspired me, till one day I told my mum that I would never work in an office, but wanted to be a creative minded person instead. 

As an African child born in the society where doctors, lawyers, teachers and engineers dominate, it was obvious that my mum would not take this seriously… After high school I was interested in joining an art school, but my dad was not in support of the idea. It was then that I decided to look for a job to raise some cash. I worked as a barber in a local barbershop, in 6 months and was able to raise 6,000 Kenyan Shillings [about USD $60, editor], enough to pay for my first semester, then later my dad came in and paid for the rest.

Commissions

Contact the artist via Keith McFarlane (Portraits Africa)at editor@negativeentropy.net who will provide an introduction. Artist and buyer are free to negotiate on both subject and price. While the artist has provided a guide-price or price indication, the first step in any commission is that artist and buyer agree the price, size, subject and materials of the composition and its delivery date. Portraits Africa will then request the agreed commission fee from the buyer, and on receipt of that fee will advise the artist to start work. The fee will not be released to the artist until the work has been completed and delivered to the buyer. Should a dispute arise between artist and buyer, it is Portraits Africa that will adjudicate. For the service prospectus, Terms & Conditions, see Commissioning a Portrait.

Notes

1. These are guide prices. They are not binding on the artist, but are intended to set the buyer’s expectations prior to the artist being contacted.
2. Prices will vary with the materials used, with the number of subjects (complexity) and with the overall size.
3. Prices do not include shipping, packing, framing or insurance costs. These should be itemised separately and the total price agreed up-front.
4. Portraits Africa will not involve itself in the matter of the commission price. The service offered relates only to the delivery of the finished portrait and to assuring the quality of the work produced.