I had always loved art from infancy. With a pen or pencil and some crayons in my hand I would sketch, draw and colour some little pictures. It was when I went to Kwekwe High school in 1981that I really developed a liking for fine Art. The school had a very well developed, very advanced art room and beautiful equipment including a potter’s wheel. Our form one Art teacher Miss Combe gave great art tutorials. It was fun.
Who was your most influential teacher? Why?
Then came a British Expatriate teacher Mrs Laura Humphreys in 1982…now late unfortunately, may her dear soul rest in peace. Laura was a wonderful artist. She would show us her work and post cards she drew and painted. She did a pencil work of me and I felt great. My love for art grew, such that I gave up history opting for Ordinary level Art.
Mrs Humphreys ran an Art club at the school. We would paint backdrops for the school plays…South Pacific, Joseph and the technicolor dream coat among many other school and inter-house plays. We would also paint backdrops for the local Kwekwe theatre too. Kwekwe had an annual Cactus carnival. I remember painting a huge Robin Hood for the carnival and I won a prize for my efforts…I owed it all to Laura Humphreys.
I wrote the O level Art exam AEB (associated examination board UK). I passed. Even when Laura Humphreys left Kwekwe High school sometime 1983 thereabouts, a year before we wrote our o level exams, she would encourage me from England and sent me presents, water colours and others which kept me focussed on art. She taught me how to imagine, how to concentrate and build a complete picture way, way before putting it on paper or canvas. She taught me how to create a vision and make it live. She taught me how to appreciate nature and blend it all into an art masterpiece.
Even almost forty years after, in her last days battling with cancer, we were communicating. She knew she was not going to win the cancer battle, a day before she passed, she asked me to say a prayer for her live via WhatsApp video call. I was. so touched. She passed on at the Isle of Wight two years ago. Her friend Paul kept us updated.
Mrs Laura Humphreys was the most influential teacher I had. May her dear soul rest in eternal peace.
A word from Sambiri 