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True African Art.com is an online gallery store based near New York City that features 425 original African paintings by 40 African artists. Thier motto is, “Loyal to Artists…Loyal to You” and they actively keep in touch with many of the artists who sold their artwork to them in Kenya, East Africa.

Gahinga Yamokoski, the owner and founder of True African Art, was kind enough to share some of her experiences about working with African artists and the role palyed by True African Art in bringing thier paintings to a bigger “gallery”. We featured True African Art a few months ago here, for a brief overview of thier work with African Artists in Kenya. This feature focuses on thier work in always striving to keep in touch with thier Artists from thier base in New York:

Some time after we arrived back in New York from meeting with the artists in Kenya, we initially started calling them just to let them know that the website was up running live and that they could go there to see their paintings. They were so glad to hear from us and many asked about the video interviews we had done with them. “They are up too!” we exclaimed. “Everything is there now.”

And so it was. Texts and e-mails came in like a flood the next few days with the artists giving their feedback and thanks for our patronage to their artwork.

So we called them again, specifically to get more details on this some of our first feedback to the newly launched site. The artists loved the site and were appreciative of the fact that we would take the time to follow up with them. And they gave us some great ideas on promoting their work. Little did we know that these initial communications would spawn a whole new area of our website, let alone better solidify our relationships with the artists in the process.

Our conversation elaborated and the artists, we found, had much more to share than what we had obtained on our initial visits with them. The information and history they had were very unique and valuable, compared to any general, commonly shared write ups that were already out there on the Internet, or anywhere else for that matter.

The artists thus entrusted their personal and unique stories to our interpretation. Here’s a few excerpts from what we transcribed in full on True African Art.com:

Daniel Njoroge, well known wildlife artist, on the art of art:

….A well spoken man with empathy and intelligence, Njoroge holds true that making Black African paintings is a discipline and should not be thought of by an artist to make a profit only. To be precise, he says instead, “Today’s artists should ask themselves, what am I leaving behind to future generations in the message I am depicting in this painting?” Daniel Njoroge is an avid wildlife conservationist, a role that puts his statement in context, for who knows what his paintings will say when sadly, one of the species he paints may one day become extinct from human cruelty.

Sarah Shiundu, on being a woman African painter:

“I realized that men were dominating the art world here in Africa. And I said to myself, ‘I am going to stand on the platform with them!’ I have found equality through it.”

Elisha Ongere, on his humble beginnings:

When I went to Gallery Watatu, through the late Ruth Schaffner, I got surprised because what I was seeing here were odd things. They were abstract. I really liked them, but when I saw their value I asked myself ‘why is that value attached to this abstract?’ It was not the art I was used to. That curiosity made me go back. I wanted to know why this type of art is expensive. Because what I was doing by then was refined art, realism. I produced portraits, etc…Here at Gallery Watatu I had never seen anything that was like that… So I took a week, I studied there, I talked to Ruth…I went back to my house and started examining my materials and produced my first abstract works. Now when I went back to Gallery Watatu, those works sold immediately. In those days Ruth was still there. I remember when I went back again, while I was displaying my works of art to her, someone just came and said, ‘We want those works. Give us those works immediately!’ And they were both taken the same day! That inspired me. By then Ruth was doing good work at Gallery Watatu. Every artist was happy. She kept getting us good money as artists. And that is something that can inspire you, if your work pays you. That was one good thing about meeting Ruth.

Wycliffe Chagwi, on the Kenyan art market.

“Every day I get people calling me for paintings” Chagwi says. “I get to practice like never before, but the life as an artist is a lonely one.” He says that in Kenya, citizens of the country “don’t appreciate African artists. I wind up selling my art to visitors of my country and collectors from various parts of the world. It’s a separated audience. They are not unified and come in from scattered locations, not necessarily from Kenya, where one might think my main audience would be.”

And Martin Bulinya, on artistic expression in general:

“Art is an interest on some level to most people, but maybe some of us see things more deeper than others…Any form of art is a talent distributed to us as humans once we discover it within ourselves.”

What you read here, and what you can read in full on True African Art.com is truly a largely undiscovered territory of personal statements and unrecorded content about African art directly from the African artist. With the fascination of the continent most outsiders experience on their first visit, the stories and personal touch the artists share on the website truly reminds the viewer about a part of the African community they experienced. And for the African living away from home, the art and the commentary about it brings a little piece of Mama’s memory to the soul.

That’s why the artists shared with us, so that their history can be formalized and be a complement to their artwork.

“Loyal to Artists….Loyal to You.” That statement means a lot to our artists because we have treated them with respect. We stick by it. And it means a lot to us as a business. We want our clients to receive from our customer service an extraordinary experience and a painting or two that speaks to them for a lifetime.

As a Kenyan living in America, I am a child of two worlds: “Glocal” I like to call it, GLObal and loCAL at the same time. What I do for my homeland has an impact. How I choose to treat others affects how others treat me and how I feel everyday here in this still new and beautiful land of the USA I find myself in.

I hope that you get a sense of our mission when you visit True African Art.com. It’s more than a business; it’s a platform for an artist trying to reflect the most significant part of what it is that means the most to them. You will want to hear what they have to say about their artwork and the culture, beauty, and struggles it resonates. So please, go ahead…Enjoy art, enjoy Africa!

Related Feature: True African Art.com – The Website

Gathinja Yamokoski, a Kenyan citizen and artist, has lived in the USA since 2002 and owns True African Art.com.