POWER TAKES HIS ART TALENT TO THE PEOPLE
Onneile ‘Power’ Tirafalo is a visual artist with a purpose and desire to grow his craft. He said he wants to take his talent to the world one brush stroke and sketch at a time.
“From a young age I realised that I am talented in doing art as I could draw well. Luckily, I had the support of teachers who saw my potential and took time to help me to refine my talent. I always knew that art was my calling and that is why I pursued it at tertiary level.”
He completed a degree in Fine Art at Limkokwing University in 2015. The 30-year-old went to primary school at Mabele a podi and completed secondary at Selepa and Mater Spei, where he started receiving awards for art. He did so well that he started even helping and mentoring others who struggled to refine their art talent. He noted that his mentor was a teacher of his, Mma Gumedi from Zimbabwe, who encouraged his talent and urged him to pursue his passion at a time where creative talent is not taken seriously. As he grew in his vocation and developed his craft, he explored different art mediums. “I liked pencil but I was not comfortable with painting: I feared errors – then now used water-based colour (acrylic),” he said.
In 2015 he lived in Palapye and later came to Gaborone and that is when he revived his passion for art. He worked as a volunteer in Government as a teacher aide at Bokamoso Secondary school. In 2019 he was selected as best teacher in Botswana (gold medalist). He then moved to Gaborone Secondary School and was a maths teacher between 2019 and 2020. He said maths and art are similar as they both require using the brain. He is currently a teaching temp on a call basis. He said that from 2020, he focused on art and most of his sold work were service paintings and compresses carried out through out sourcing and speciliasation. He has also taken on art projects for big companies such as JCB, Unitrans, GABC as well as waste management companies such as Leaf Environment.
He currently uses door to door and social media to sell his art works. He also does illustrations for books and comic books etc. “I learnt fundamentals of design, which has also come in handy,” he said.
Currently, his mentor is Kagiso Keapereng, his lecturer from Limkokwing University.
Tirafalo has had his fair share of successes that include exhibiting in the President Day competitions. In 2016 he came out third in Palapye under the fine art category. In 2017 he scooped position one under the painting category in Mochudi, and he took first and second position in 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2020 he got a cash prize due to the Covid19 restrictions. He subsequently established Power’s Art Gallery which he operates from his home.
The visual artist said that in future he
wants to establish his own art equipment and stationary shop. He also dreams of opening his own art gallery.
Tirafalo said that his current challenge is that he needs capital to work on different projects to grow his art business, adding that he would appreciate any help that he can receive.
**To contact him or see more of his work, visit: Instagram: Powertirafalo Email: tirafaloart@gmail.com Fb Page: power’s Art Gallery Tiktok:@userpowerja