• Education

Crafting her way into entrepreneurship

Michelline Nawatises



Seliima Piisha was born and raised in Windhoek and studied public relations at Unam.

She was incredibly shy as a child and used art, whether it was visual, acting, writing or singing, as a form of meditation, expression and for an escape from reality.

At an early age, her teachers always pointed out that she had a special talent for art.

In primary school, Seliima, who is now 28, drew a picture of her school in art class.

A teacher asked if she could buy it from her and Seliima thus sold her first artwork before she was even a teenager!

“I did arts for fun on and off for years, until recently when I realised I could take it more seriously,” she says.

The aim of Seliima Arts is to offer unique, personalised art that was crafted with love.

“I want to showcase something different that a buyer can keep for themselves forever or give as a gift for a loved one. The aim is also to encourage more Namibians to support and buy local products, thereby improving our economy.”

Seliima says we tend to spend so much more on foreign products and services.

“If we have local products and services that are also of great quality, we need to abandon the belief that foreign is always better.”

When asked what sparked the idea of making her own cards, Seliima mentioned her love for crafting cards.

“I have loved cards since as far as I can remember.”

She explains there is something special about gifting someone a small piece of art with a personalised message on it.

Since she was a child, friends have always told her how much they love her drawing, which motivated her to create gifts for special occasions.

Seliima felt a need to create cards that were different and more personalised.

When asked what is special about her cards, she says some of them have fabric as part of their design.

The other special thing is that she prints a different inspirational or motivational quote on each card!

“These inspirational quotes help me get through hard times or simply just put a smile on my face. So when you buy my cards you are not just getting a pretty piece of folded paper, you are taking home my drawing, a motivational message and piece of my heart and hard work,” she explains.

Her long-term goals are to have her cards and other upcoming ­merchandise on the shelves of bookshops across Namibia and around the world.

Seliima buys her materials from different shops in Namibia.

Since each card needs different materials, one card can take her anything from a few hours to a day to make.

She currently has a beautiful series of cards one can choose from.

Each card costs N$50. Once an order is placed the cards can be collected from her.

Seliima can be reached at Artseliima@gmail.com and on her Instagram page @seliima­­_arts, where updates and crafts are displayed.

“I trust that everyone can find a card that will suit them or the person they are gifting it to,” Piisha says.