Valentine Mettle

Valentine Mettle has passion for nature, in particular the sea and the serenity, the beach vegetations and wild life. This could be traced to his childhood where he frolicked around the coast. At an early age, he showed talent and love for art. At Our Lady Of Apostle Convent school, the nun teacher noticed his head was always down during arithmetic class. While classmates learnt addition and multiplication, Valentine was busy drawing from chewing gum photos- John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and the like. Needless to say he was the Picasso of his class. Valentine Mettle studied Fine Art at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria where he majored in Textile Design and Technology. He held series of solo and group exhibitions to his credit in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and the United States of America. Valentine Mettle works and lives in South Africa. His love for colour and movement is reflected in his work. The mood of his paintings and drawings is dramatic and magnificently painted with remarkable textures created with great dexterity with his pencil, brush, and other objects and materials. Valentine Mettle sometimes employ the use of stylized forms, lines, patterns and motifs to express his concepts. He also enjoys doing sceneries in pastel and acrylic wash on location or with the subject before him. Inspiration comes from his own moods, emotions, dreams and aspirations as well as those of other beings.