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Swagga T
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes while art is knowing which ones to keep. When 13-year-old Prosper Foya of Hatcliffe started doing some sketches of what came to his mind or what he saw, his parents and peers thought he had gone mad.
According to the shy teen, art is his passion.

“I started drawing some time ago and I love it very much. Many thought I had gone crazy and you know parents always dream that their child will grow to be a doctor or lawyer. But they changed their minds when I presented my first drawing which depicted what had just happened while we were coming from shops,” he explained.

The Form One student at Vainona High School in Harare, has wizardry with the pencil, drawing pad as well as the computer that is unparalleled by many kids of his age.

“I will be taking some of my drawings I have been working on for the past few months, to the ‘Draw Your Dream Car Art Contest’ and I am confident of scooping the award,” he said.

Like they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Prosper’s father, Taengwa Foya, who is a self-taught mechanic likes to experiment with repairing whatever breaks down at home, be it a car, bike or anything.

The talented teenager says he derives inspiration from his family of artistes who are very supporting of him, being the last-born.

“I have never received any form of discouragement from my family, in fact, they are all an art-loving bunch. Music and visual arts are the bedrock of the family,” said the lanky young artist.

Talking to him, one is reminded of the exceptional talents of the likes of Bill Gates who started his own business – Microsoft –  at a very tender age. Prosper is not an ordinary artist who is content with just drawing a simple image.

“You see, I want this car (the one he was working on during the interview) to have two engines so that when one develops a mechanical fault, the other one will automatically switch on and cover up for the fault!”, he said.

The shy lad who wants to become an engineer when he grows up says he will remain an artist all his life.

“I want to become an engineer when I grow up but art runs in my veins, which means that I will never leave it. There are so many successful artists I have heard of and one of them is Dominic Benhura. When I grow up I want to pursue formal training in art, exhibit my canvases and without doubt tour international art zones,” he dreams.

He has the potential of going places as an artist because his work is really good.

Just like how Justin Bieber was supported by his mom in his rise to fame, Prosper’s mother fully backs his efforts.

From the time he started drawing while in Grade five at Sally Mugabe Heights Primary School, Prosper’s mother has been religiously buying him pens, paper, pencils and rubbers to make sure that he has all the tools his trade. So Prosper draws on.