For almost a decade, N'Kele ignored his art. During his years as a student in Africa and Belgium he had made pocket money by sketching prominent people and offering the portraits to them for sale. He didn't think of keeping copies. Except for a few sketches (on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, even old receipts) that lay collecting dust in the back of his closet, there was little evidence to remind him that, since he had been a child and first held a pencil in his hand, he had a God-given talent to draw.

Several events in the 1990s brought major changes into the young artist's life. He enrolled in a sculpture class at a community college, the same college where he had taken English as a Second Language and some other
courses through the years. He had not previously worked in a three-dimensional format, but quickly grew to love the feel of creating shapes with his hands. He experimented with wire, wax, plaster and clay.

A major turning point involved a chance meeting with Robert Glen, the artist who created the Dallas area landmark sculpture, Mustangs of Las Colinas. Although they spoke only briefly, Glen's words of encouragement energized the younger artist. Shortly after their meeting, in an uncontainable surge of creativity, N'Kele began Forgotten Heritage.

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