Clavers Odhiambo, who burst onto the Kenyan arts scene last year with a huge portrait of an elderly woman that dwarfed other paintings and visitors alike, has now gone to the other end of the spectrum with a series of nudes of a young model.

Two of them are among the attractions at the fourth annual Affordable Art Show (AAS), being held this weekend in the courtyard of the National Museum of Kenya, at Museum Hill, Nairobi.

The show, of 300 paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture, all priced up to a maximum $1,000, includes work by such luminaries as Patrick Mukabi, Yassir Ali, Samuel Githui and the Ugandan sculptor Lilian Nabulime.

Slightly less luminous but still striving for a certain luminosity is Odhiambo, whose nudes, like much of his work, were copied from photographs. Here he focused firmly on the effects of drops of water on skin.

Some might admire their depth and the quality of Odhiambo’s meticulous brushwork; others might dismiss them as meretricious and plainly vulgar. But I think both groups would recognise his skill.

As I remarked of his previous paintings, working from someone else’s two dimensional photographs instead of a three dimensional person saves him the trouble of having to sort out the modelling and spatial relationships, which have already been done for him, leaving him free to concentrate on texture, colour, tone and those parts of the subject he finds most interesting; in his case, apparently, breasts.

I would urge him to work from life, from a walking, talking model, and to start to deal with the issues that painters like Mukabi and Githui grapple with every day… realising flesh; bringing its unruly presence into the room and onto the canvas; capturing something of what it is to be alive — and not simply copying in patient detail what a camera has already recorded.

It might be an excellent exercise for developing skills (rendering the effect of light on water, for instance) but painting is more than that.

Most of the work on show at Museum Hill is by relative unknowns — “emerging talents” in that delightful phrase — being given a chance to exhibit alongside big league artists and at a price many visitors can afford; an average of $500 a piece, according to the museum’s arts curator Lydia Galavu who organised the show.

Acceptance for the exhibition was juried, which suggests some level of quality control, and indeed with an abundance of entries some artists have not made it to the walls.

Among those who have, bargains might be found. One of the pleasures of such events is spotting talent before it becomes unaffordably expensive.

In the past, Yony Waite, Cartoon Joseph, Sebastian Kiare and Morris Foit have shown at the AAS (known in the 90s as Nairobi Arts Fair) at prices a 10th of what they can now command.

Names to look out for among the younger artists include, as well as Odhimabo, Mwini Mutuku and Mike Kyalo, while, according to Galavu, emerging talent packed with promise includes Kenny Kinua, Evans Maina and Bebeto Ochieng.

But do remember Oscar Wilde’s pithy remark: “A fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

So as always the rule remains, buy only what you like.

That way, even if the prices do not rise you will have something that gives you lasting pleasure — and if prices rocket, well, that is a bonus.

Uganda Press Photo Award

Meanwhile from Uganda comes news of another exciting initiative, a competition for young photographers with a camera kit as the prize.

In addition to the camera — an 18mp Canon 1200D — the winner of the Uganda Press Photo Award will also be given a two-month photography residency and a solo exhibition during next year’s UPPA event.

The competition is open to photographers aged 18- 25 whom, the organisers say, are passionate about their work but lack the tools to realise their vision.

“This is a great opportunity for young people who want to make photography their career,” commented the programme co-ordinator Stella Nantongo.

Full information is available at [email protected] but briefly, entry closes on November 3 and by then these passionate young men and women will each have to submit an introductory letter explaining their fervour for photography plus their proposal for a project they would like to shoot, given the proper equipment.

From all the entries, eight photographers will be chosen to go on to the next stage which will be an interview and portfolio review by a panel of industry professionals.

These include Annette Seba, a senior lecturer in photography at Makerere University, Carl de Souza, a photojournalist with AFP and Edward Echwalu, his counterpart at Reuters.

So at least the panel boasts experts at actual fieldwork and applicants can have confidence they will be judged by people who really do know what they are talking about.

Frank Whalley runs Lenga Juu, an arts consultancy based in Nairobi