Wesley Korir on his love for art
Kenya's two-time Los Angeles Marathon winner Wesley Korir talks to spikesmag.com about how he has come to love art.
"I wouldn’t call myself an artist but I have come to love painting.
I started last year when my girlfriend, now my wife, went to Kenya to visit my parents, leaving me alone for six weeks.
Before she returned I started wondering what present I should give her when she gets back.
I considered giving her some flowers as she loves them, but as flowers only last a couple of days I decided to paint a picture of some flowers instead.
I had never painted before and I didn’t know how the painting would come out, but to my surprise I found out that I had a little art in me.
My wife was absolutely delighted with the painting and since then I have developed an interest in art and have converted my basement into my painting area.
I love to paint now when I am not running, working, or volunteering. You’ll often find me in the basement of my house trying to paint.
Painting requires a lot of patience, something I have never had much of before, but learning to be more patient has helped me a lot in my marathon career.
Marathon’s require a lot of patience and in the past I was so impatient when I ran, but now I can sit and wait until the important part of the race to make my move.
In the future, I hope to sell some of my paintings to raise money for the "Bread of life Foundation," a charity that helps unfortunate children back home in Kenya."