The first thing that comes to mind when I walk down the rocky footpath and the 36-year-old sculptor shows me his yard ahead of us, is the 'tranquil estate' of the Shanzha-based, veteran artist Samson Mudzunga.

Like Mudzunga, Jabulani Patrick Manyike's one-room shelter is perched on a hill, near the Ritavi and Musapa rivers at Mbhokota village. Looking at his mud shelter, which serves as his house and studio, many cannot imagine that enviable art works are created inside this shelter. “I love wood, and my life is wood,” Manyike reveals about his love of art.

He uses dead wood which he collects from the wilderness to caft his sought-after creations. He says that, to him, art is wood. “I can fashion a piece of dead wood into all kinds of artefacts which I want,” he says. “I see visions of some of the art objects which I finally craft and bring to life.”

He uses a wide range of wood for his creations, including mbamba-ngoma, mondo, nkonono, xifati, n'wamuthangu and nyiri. He was discovered by a prolific sculptor, Lucky Ntimani, who introduced him to the internationally aclaimed sculptor Thomas Kubayi. Kubabi was running Vutshila Art Centre, where he coached and mentored young talent.

“Kubayi then mentored me and created a space for me in his workshops to practice my art while I was also gaining more skills in the art form,” he says.

Manyike's major aim as an artist from a rural village is to use his art to preserve the image of the late internationally respected artist of the same art form, Jackson Hlungwani. Hlungwani passed away on 20 January 2010. He was 87.

“Many people travelled from European countries to visit Tatana Hlungwani at his home, where they viewed his work,” says Manyike. “He was a great man indeed. I am deeply indebted to his work as a young artist who still needs to learn more.”

Manyike may call himself a young artist who has a burning desire to continue walking the road of art, but his sculptures can well be classified as fine art. He crafts everything from chairs and tables to fish shapes and human figures with many heads and more.

He says that he started taking art seriously in 2007. In 2010, he quit his job at an abattoir and embraced his art. “I am a full-time artist,” he says. “Even when people do not buy my work on a daily basis, once they buy one or two pieces every three months or so, I am able to use that money for at least four months.”

When he is not busy, Manyike socialises with the locals for purposes of inspiration, which he gets from current social affairs. “I believe that an artist must live among the people and only go into retreat for purposes of spirituality and work,” he concludes.