At age 13, Afua Asabea Asare recognized her interest for art. It was never a struggle to get her fingers to do something creative. But it would not be until her early 20s that she would realise her love for painting.

“I started drawing on fabric and I would sell. It was fetching me money and it was good. Until somebody saw my artwork on a T-shirt and said this is good. Why don’t you do this on canvas…?” Asabea told Daryl Kwawu, presenter of Busy-4G sponsored JOY BUSINESS VAN.

Asabea's, however, had other interests to work for the corporate world. After a while, she lost her job, and then she decided to pay more attention to her passion.

“I decided to stick to my art which I loved doing because it fulfilled me and I thought that losing my job was some kind of a blessing in disguise. I wouldn’t have gotten out of that comfort zone to try and do what I really love doing,” she said.

Asabea’s love for art would get her more curious. She would look up works of various celebrated artists which led to her discovery of mosaic art – the art of shading with glass pretty rare in Ghana.

She got help from her Italian mentor Dino Maccini and her career path became clear. Her career as an artist has progressed steadily. She’s gotten international exposure thanks to her Italian mentor. Most of her works are sold outside the country.

Asabea’s heartbeat is to see the Ghanaian art industry grow.

“When we talk about art in Ghana, we only focus on music and film industries. I don’t think that we have catered for people like us in fine arts. We don’t even have the exposure here," she noted.

Asabea’s ambition now is to build the fine arts industry in Ghana. She is planning her first exhibition in the country and hopefully teach children her skill. And although she’s made quite a fortune from her art pieces, that’s not what really brings her fulfillment.

“The fulfillment is not really in making the money but knowing that somebody appreciates what you are doing and loving it yourself. You are very happy when you are doing this. If you have the passion, you can sit all day in corner of your studio and not get hungry”.

It’s been 10 years and Asabea enjoys what she does.

“I like this zone that I am in and if I could be here till I die, so be it”.

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