Nature, landscapes and flowers are just some of the things that inspire 79-year-old painter, Zenon Rozycki. Rozycki was born in Poland and moved to South Africa in 1985. Since he was a young boy he had shown an interest in art, but at the time he only drew pictures as paints were expensive. He mentioned that he wanted to study art when he was younger but his parents swayed him off that path when they expressed their worry. “My parents told me to be careful. All the painters die in poverty. That scared me so much that I changed my mind.”

Rozycki worked as an economist and specialised in foreign trade and banking, and he worked at Nissan, exporting parts to the rest of the continent. When he retired, he devoted his time to his paintings. “I am a self-taught artist. I haven’t studied formally. Instead, I would visit galleries and museums just to see how masters solve their problems. There were a lot of trials.” He said his biggest influences have been Russian painters from the 19th century including Isaac Levitan, Ivan Shishkin and Vasily Polenov. “I considered these artists the best. In every one of their paintings you could see the soul and the spirit. That’s why my paintings are somehow subjective to their style,” he added.

Rozycki may be small in stature but his paintings are large. His subjects are forests, sunsets at the ocean, and even expressive portraits. You don’t need full knowledge of brushwork and composition to be enchanted by his artworks as they are simply mesmerising.

He spoke about the difference between what he prefers and what South Africans like. His works are influenced heavily by scenes from his home country of Poland. “Here people like elephants, cheetahs, the bush and mountains. This is not giving me the full range of expression.” He admitted with a smile that when he starts a project, he might begin with the goal of painting something in a certain style but, “I will be painting and then once again … European forest”. Two years ago he challenged himself to break out of that mould and started colour compositions. The change in direction led to the creation of Blue Mood, which was accepted by the biggest publisher of art books in Italy.

Eleven years ago, the artists started experiencing tremors, which were early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. He admits he sometimes has trouble walking and the tremors have persisted but his gifted hands have remained steady. He said, “The Almighty has saved me the possibility of painting because I have the type of Parkinson’s that eliminates shaking when you do concrete moves or actions. I am still able to paint even the thinnest hair.”

The Honeydew resident who describes himself as “79-years-young” lives with his wife and they have two children and four grandchildren. Although he didn’t actively teach his children how to paint, he revealed that they show ability and inclination towards art. He has exhibited in Rome, and Florence, and locally at Ramkiki and at the Mogale City Museum. His paintings grace walls in Germany, Japan and of course, Poland.

Rozycki does not stick to any specific style of painting. He paints what he likes, in a way he likes. This is truly evident in his works which range from lush green forests, detailed portraits and sacral paintings. Nothing is off limits! When asked which one of his paintings is his favourite, he replied, “All of them because I like everything I paint”.

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