Lino prints are £40 (+ post and packing). Please order by email orders@bethesdafoundation.org
© Copyright Bethesda Foundation, Bethesda Arts Centre, 2005
Registered Charity 1089122
I was born in Nieu Bethesda in 1977. I lived with my mum, and she raised me on her own. My father had another wife in Nieu Bethesda, and I had one half brother and half sister. They used to go to see our father on holidays, and I used to feel jealous that I couldn’t go too. I saw my dad for the first time when I was seventeen. I was on the street with my friends, and he came up to me and said he is my father. He told me why he wasn’t there all the years of my life – because he had to go to Cape Town to look for a job. He told me that his life was very difficult in Cape Town, and he couldn’t support us financially. He asked me to forgive him.
After that it was good. I was very pleased to see him, because all the years my mum told me about him, I was really looking forward to seeing him one day. He came to live in Nieu Bethesda, and he started with his donkey-cart rides for tourists. I worked with him for a bit, and we came to understand each other.
I am so confused, because I enjoy art very much, but I think I must go to Pretoria to try and get a job even though I have earned quite a lot through my artwork. I am supporting my mother. I also have a baby son who I support. I don’t live with his mother – she lives with her parents. I want to live with her and my son one day.
I want to achieve a good life. I want to overcome my difficulties. I love drawing and printing, especially the landscapes around Nieu Bethesda. One day I hope to be a great artist.
Pete Booysen
