For over two decades, he served as spokesperson for various Limpopo government departments - including education, public works, and roads and infrastructure. Paena Galane, a former spin doctor for ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, has changed gears. Paena has left government communications for paint and brush. The self-taught artist and, former spokesperson, Paena Galane is now a multitalented and illustrator and painter. He does his paintings by using mixed media on canvas.

COVID HELPED UNLEASH HIS CREATIVE SIDE

Paena says his interest in art has been in his DNA from school to when he was a university student. He was also a cartoonist for a campus newsletter. When the hard lockdown hit in 2020, he used the time to get back into art. He got himself canvases, paints, and brushes and sat in his home in Pretoria West, to train himself and produce works that he posted on his social media pages for followers to comment on. "The responses I got from other artists and galleries were overwhelming, they started to enquire about my work which made me realise I was doing a good job," he says.

HIS WORK NOTICED INTERNATIONALLY

After he realised that his work was being noticed by various people, especially internationally mostly from Europe and the United States, Paena invested his time in online tutorials which led to some of his works catching the attention of art collectors in the country. One of his highlights as a virtual artist is his art piece called The Love Revolution which was named as a finalist for the 2023 Sasol Signatures Art Competition. The art piece sold in April 2020 illustrates the likes of Elon Musk, Lamiez Halworthy, P. Diddy, former US President Barack Obama, Prince Kaybee, LeBron James, and Pharrell Williams. The piece is currently hung at the Gallery Bar in Illovo. His Spread the Love Artwork also showcases the various individuals and personalities on a picnic having a conversation with the sighting of world-renowned Ndebele artist Koko Esther Mahlangu being interviewed in front of international talent and a conversation between Julius Malema and American cleric Reverend Al Sharpton in different languages and writings surround the whole artwork that was selected as one of the finalists for this year.

HE IS ALSO AN AUTHOR

In his busy art life, Paena is also an author of a book - The Babies of the Revolution, in which he is working on a sequel after the Korrupted Korridor. The book is about the dangers of loyalty in politics and how easily politicians can dump a principal for cash. It follows the life of young men who lost their political consciousness due to the large thrown at them by the captains of the industry. "The book shows how the so-called captains of the industry in business, impose policies on politicians for adoption even though they don’t believe in them, but because they sold their souls for the riches and they suddenly have nowhere to go but to betray the trust of the electorate who had put their faith in them," he said.

A VILLAGER

Paena who hails from Kalkspruit village outside Polokwane in Limpopo is related to the late internationally acclaimed trombonist and musician Jonas Gwangwa. He is also a former student leader who led the South African Students Press Union when he was a student at the Technikon Northern Transvaal, now Tshwane University of Technology. His rise in student politics saw him cut his stint at the SABC where he worked in the sports department as a sports commentator. For now, Paena who runs his own company, says he believes he is ready for his solo Art Exhibition with the material he has worked on in recent years.