Ong Kim Seng Will Never Retire from Painting
Falling in love with your job is easy, but staying in love with it is no easy feat. Hat tip to Ong Kim Seng for managing to do so for the past 30 years.
His artistic journey was far from smooth. Having lost his father at a young age, his mother was a pillar of support, but they did not see eye-to-eye with regard to his passion for art. Many a time, Ong had to paint on the sly, either at his friends’ homes or on newspapers. Despite the odds that were stacked against him, the self-taught artist stayed true to his unyielding passion and vision. To him, “Art is a continuous journey. There may be pitfalls and times where you get stuck. It is up to one to choose a path and go along with it.”
Today, he is undeniably one of Singapore’s most prolific watercolourists. Accolades aside, he placed Singapore on the world map by being the only Asian artist residing outside of US to be admitted to the American Waterlour Society (‘AWS’).