10 Inspirational Things Young People Can Learn From Visual Artist Ennock Mlangeni

10 Inspirational Things Young People Can Learn From Visual Artist Ennock Mlangeni. As iron sharpens iron, we too can learn from our peers. Ennock Mlangeni is a self-taught visual artist who uses waste to create his art and make a living. Draw inspiration from him from the 10 facts below.

1. Your Background Doesn’t Define You

Ennock was born in the small rural village of Petrus Steyn in the Free State. He made his move to Sasolburg to live with his grandmother after his parents died when he was seven.

2. Start As Early As Possible

Ennock discovered his passion for art in grade 6 through his drawings of comic book characters. His passion led Ennock to win the Techno X Art Competition for three years in a row from 2011 to 2013.

3. Unemployment Is No Setback

This is a case of taking lemons and making lemonade. Instead of being sad that he didn’t have funds to further his education, and get a job, Ennock invested in his craft. The challenge of unemployment pushed Ennock to nurture his talent so it could put bread on the table for his family.

4. Start With The Little Resources You Have

Ennock started doing his work with pen and he still uses that now to create amazing pieces. He admits that sometimes you need to be even more creative and use anything else at your disposal. One of the items he uses is newspapers.

5. Be Creative

The idea of newspapers came to Ennock when he spilled coffee on one. Being the creative he is, he was in love with the colour of the newspaper where the spill was, so Ennock decided to do newspaper and coffee art.

6. Take Advantage of Social Media

Getting word out about his art has become a lot easier with social media. Now Ennock is able to sell his artwork, which ranges from R3000 to R20 000, all over the country and around the world.

7. Use Home Ground Advantage

Unlike many talented South Africans, Mlangeni has no desire to leave the Free State to pursue greener pastures in Johannesburg. He says his work is good enough for the city of gold to come find it in the Free State.

8. Work Smart

After donating one of his art pieces to a charity for them to auction and make money, and the piece was bought by art collector Danny Weckx, who happens to own an art gallery in Belgium. Now Ennock has been invited to his first-ever international art exhibition, which will be in Belgium in August 2020.

9. Have Someone To Look Up To

When you want to venture into something, it is very important to have someone to look up to. With Ennock, he draws inspiration from strong women like his grandmother, Esther Thokwane, who raised him after his parents died.

10. Dream Big

Ennock has realiZed his dream of opening an art studio in his community. With The Shack Art Studios born, his initial goal is to open an art academy and make sure it spreads to other areas nationwide