Creative Jolt: South African artist finds a new medium in coffee stains

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Creativity comes in all shapes and material and creative people say sometimes a lack of resources can fuel creativity more than a wealth of them. Well, one South African artist has found inspiration in a readily-available resource usually used to fuel the mind: coffee. But in this case, it's not about drinking it. CGTN's Yolisa Njamela has more.

Ennock Mlangeni is a self-taught artist. His journey in art started very early on in his life. He used to sketch a lot of characters from his favourite comics. After completing high school though, he was met with an obstacle that prevented him from furthering his education, and equipping himself with the necessary tools to advance his art.

ENNOCK MLANGENI ARTIST "When I started doing art, I used to lack the resources, the materials, so I used to experiment a lot with different mediums from pencils to pen. Until I fell in love with charcoal and I mixed it with a bit of paint 'acrylic paint' to give it a nice texture."

He also uses coffee for his art. The artist transforms coffee spills into masterpieces.

ENNOCK MLANGENI ARTIST "The coffee medium I started using it last year it was an experiment also. Actually what happened, I was busy doing some work and the coffee spilt on the work so I started moving it around and playing around with it then I saw something beautiful then I started doing some pieces out of it and that's how I got into coffee artwork."

The one painting that Mlangeni is most pleased with, is that of the late struggle stalwart, Winnie Madikizela Mandela. He started sketching it when he heard that Mama had passed on.

ENNOCK MLANGENI ARTIST "The most painting that I'm proud of I think it's the Mama Winnie piece that I did last year because I was all over that piece and it helped me grow as an artist for more people to recognize me."

While Mlangeni has not reached the success that he wishes for yet, he's mighty proud of what he has achieved so far.

ENNOCK MLANGENI ARTIST "So far as an artist I think I have grown from where I started. If I can look three years back when I started nobody knew me and in the art scene generally. I was no-one but so far I've managed to get my name out there via social media of course."

Mlangeni now wants to open an art academy but first he is still trying to raise enough funds for a proper art studio so he can start teaching a small group of children interested in the arts.

Yolisa Njamela, CGTN, Pretoria, South Africa.