For many young people, it is a believe that you have to have a picture of what you want to be when you grow up so that you are focused, but for 19-year-old Cindy Kemunto, things were different.
It took her trying out all that she had in mind to finally get her groove in fine arts. “I never thought I would be an artist because up till high school, I always thought I would pursue fashion and design.
I even wanted join the university and study fashion and design. Anyway, here I am today,” says the second year student at Kenyatta University, Nairobi. When she completed secondary education, Cindy was set to join Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology for a four-year course in procurement.
It seemed a good deal, but that was not what she wanted to study. So she rejected the offer. Later her parents convinced her to join the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply College, Nairobi, to study procurement. She did, but she was unsettled and after a year dropped out to enroll at Kenyatta University to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art.
“I loved drawing. In secondary school, I used to make cards and do calligraphy on the school certificates and students mails. However, I never thought it would be a career for me, especially with parents and peers who did not support the idea at first. I am glad my parents came around and supported my choice,” says Cindy.
It might seem busy for her, but she says she juggles between school and her fine art work. Her highest artwork has gone for Sh 20,000 and the lowest at Sh2,000. Overtime, her clientele has grown from just close friends to deliveries in and outside Nairobi.
Speaking about her biggest challenges, Cindy explains that it has taken a lot to prove to the world that she is good at what she does. “Every time I present someone with a good pencil art I have done, they don’t believe it is my work at first.
They are so used to the fact that mostly just men venture into this career. For a girl who does a better job, is hard working and making money from the same, seems unbelievable. Some people want to see me drawing to prove that all of it is my work, which of course I have had to do to earn their trust,” she adds.
Her wish is that more women don’t sleep on their talents especially art. “Naturally people underestimate the power of a woman,” she says. She hopes to become the best female pencil artist and gain a worldwide market for her work.
“I get great inspiration from one of my lecturers who does wonderful pieces and Kenyan renowned artist, whose work I deem ‘perfect’ over time, Elias Mungora. I am also grateful to my family,” she says.
Not deciding to settle for what everyone wanted her to do, allowed her to get her comfort zone and she has no regret whatsoever as she has turned it into her playground and also a money maker. “ I am also a runway model and I can also do commercials,” she says.