Ramarutha Makoba’s art explores themes of community and family relationships in his recognizable charcoal, pastel and acrylic drawings. In these drawings the grit of daily life is interspersed with brightly coloured trees and portraits of people from his community.

Makoba dedicates much of his out of his studio giving back to his community. He sees his role as an educator as empowering the children, he works with in helping them see a future beyond their current situation, lifting their blindfold and opening their minds and eyes to what is possible. Representing the family unit as a tree, he says that if your nurture these children and their families you allow their roots to take hold and to give them a future worth working towards.

Makoba quotes Tyler Perry: “I have this tree analogy when I think of people in my life…It goes like this: Some people come into your life, and they are like leaves on a tree. They are only there for a season. You can’t be angry at them, it’s just who they are. There are some people who come into your life, and they are like branches on a tree… In most cases they can’t handle too much weight. But again, you can’t be mad with them, it’s just who they are. If you can find some people in your life who are like the roots of a tree then you have found something special…Their job is to hold you up, come what may, and to nourish you, feed you and water you.”