Mind-blowing work by local artist at the Alice Art Gallery in Ruimsig

Phenomenal art pieces exhibited at the Alice Art Gallery in Ruimsig by Patrick Rapai, an experienced local fine artist, have been receiving overwhelming reception from art enthusiasts and the media.

Rapai partnered with a local art gallery in a bid to uplift his market and open more doors for himself.

The talented 41-year-old, who fell in love with painting at the tender age of nine, has been teaching children from Mjolnir Learning Centre, a special school in Wilgeheuwel, nurturing them to be professional artists under his art mentorship programme.

“I’ve been involved in a six-month training project in which I was inspired to teach kids from Mjonir Learning Centre. I taught them how to create pieces of architecture, engineering and art through my direction,” he said.

The art pieces from the lessons were then displayed during an Art in the Park event on 3 June held at the Alice Art Gallery. Alice Pitzer, owner of the gallery gives young, aspiring artists the opportunity to display their art for general public viewing.

Rapai spoke about his difficulty trying to break into the art world.

“I started drawing and painting at a very young age and it was something I did well among other disciplines. My biggest challenge then was my father who did not support my work which forced me to finance my own studies,” he explained.

The respected artist also told Roodepoort Northsider that he draws his inspiration from travelling and meeting people.

“I get my inspiration by visiting places and meeting people. I’ve travelled to a lot of places like Chicago and Michigan in America and had successful exhibitions at Pick Me Art Gallery in Bel Air,” he added.

The pro also shared his creative methods. “I work on different canvasses at the same time and put seven layers in each piece of art which takes me about three days to complete, considering my 15 years of experience in painting,” he said, adding that he sees himself owning his own art gallery under his name in the future.

Rapai urged art lovers to invest in art as it matures over the years. “My art pieces start from R1 000 and go up to R100 000. The reason being is they are collectable as investments – they mature as years go by, also depending on how good the art is,” he concluded.

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