Inspiration awaits at art festival
The Wilderness Art Festival hosted by the Wilderness Art Association kicks off with a live demo by foot and mouth painters,
Rudolf Lombard and Patrick Botto, on Thursday 27 February at 10:00. This will be a demonstration not only of talent, but of courage and spirit.
All events and workshops at the festival, that runs from 27 to 29 February at the Wilderness Hotel, are open to the public at no charge.
Patrick Botto
On 12 November 1993 Patrick Botto, then aged 23 and working as a fingerprint expert, was involved in a car accident in which he broke his neck. The accident left him paralysed from the chest down. In 1998 he joined art classes in Belville under Martie Westraad and his first painting took him four months to complete.
In 2000 he was accepted as a student at the Mouth and Foot Painters Association (MFPA) of Switzerland and in March 2015 he was promoted to associate member.
"I'm forever grateful to the MFPA that has given me this opportunity to express myself artistically. The MFPA has given me a new lease on life and I am embracing it with everything that I have," says Botto.
He paints landscapes, flowers, animals and still lives.
"If you want to achieve something in life you have to go after it, otherwise you will wait forever. A dream will stay a dream if you do nothing about it. My relationship with God through Jesus Christ is my fuel that keeps me burning bright each day." Botto plays blow darts and loves watching sport. He moved to George last year.
Rudolf J Lombard
In 1983, when Rudolf Lombard was still in high school, a car accident rendered him quadriplegic with paralysis of all four limbs. After completing school he enrolled in a school for the disabled in 1986. He became interested in art while at this school, creating the first pencil drawings with his mouth that same year. Subsequently he focused on his university studies in computer science and on his professional career. It was not until 2002 that he took up mouth painting again. He became a student member of the association in 2003 and in 2009 he became an associate member.
His preferred media are oils and acrylics. Frequently he combines the two, which “constitutes a mystic experience and provides the opportunity to use colour effectively,” he says. His favourite themes are portraits, landscapes, animals and flowers.
"My greatest passion is to be an inspiration for others, not because I am a quadriplegic, but through what I am doing with my life as a quadriplegic."
Since his acceptance at the Mouth and
Foot Painters Association 17 years ago, he has never looked back. This in spite of the fact that he is colour-blind. "Every painting which I have done until now took precise planning, different techniques and colours of paint to choose from. I work on what I have memorised through the years and not always what I see." Today all his artworks are painted in colour. "Most of my artworks can be seen and found across the globe.
Art for me is a passion and gift from my Creator, vested deep in myself and my soul. Something you are born with and not taught in any classroom or university."