No matter how well paying a job may be, just a few years ago, if it were in Gulu, you would without second thought turn down a preposition taking you to that part of Uganda.

The Lords' Resistance Army (LRA) insurgence was at its all-time ripe. Nevertheless, James Kiwanuka Mulindwa accepted to shift base from Kampala to Gulu to work with kids especially those classified as night commuters. This experience has had a telling influence on his art style since.

At 28, Mulindwa has crafted an art style that is cartoonish. The fact that he had to work with children since 2005 up until the end of 2007, Mulindwa had to coin a style that was funny for the children.

"The kids were traumatised by the war and were sleeping on the streets. The only way to lift their spirits from the point of fear was through art. So I would draw things in a way that would make them laugh. This was a healing process for them," he says.

Before Mulindwa left to work in Gulu with the two Non-Governmental Organizations: Life for Africa and Invisible Children, he was the freelance cartoonist for The Weekly Observer. "Of course the time I was drawing cartoons for The Weekly Observer provided me a platform through which I got the assignment in Gulu."

The assignment in Gulu gave him an opportunity to work with over 100 children some of whom he met when he slept in the internally displaced people's camps. Besides that, it gave him a chance to develop his art style further.

Mulindwa is in a different ball game altogether. His appreciation for mostly realism art means that he draws things that are clear to understand. The cartoon style may appear immature but at the end of the day it appeals to many. "I draw art to cut across occasions, generations and moments. You can place my works anywhere right from home, offices, hospital or hotel and still not find it misplaced," says Mulindwa.

As a result, Mulindwa intends to build his own niche from what he originally looked at as the lighter side to his art. "This is what excites me now. Creating serious art from what was generally restricted to cartoons that targeted children," says Mulindwa.

Interestingly, Mulindwa insists that he is going to use his art style to speak about issues that affect people and it is not just going to be for the fun of art. "I talk about the political issues in my art works besides other issues that affect people commonly like disease, economics, wars and poverty", says Mulindwa.

At the Women's Day art exhibition at Nommo Gallery in March, Mulindwa displayed a few of his recent collections. There he got rave reviews from the patrons but most importantly he says that Ugandans in the Diaspora have applauded his style.

So, if you visit Gecko art studio in Bukoto behind Kabira Country Club, you will have a sneak-peak into his works or visit www.flickr.com and then type in Kiwanuka Mulindwa.