Words of Encouragement

Tonight, I had the opportunity to chat with an old friend I haven’t seen in years.

During our brief time together, they offered me some very kind and much needed words of encouragement.

“You’re still doing it, you’re still making art full time. You’re making it happen. I’m so proud of you. I’m so envious of what you’re doing.”

Here is someone who from my perspective has their life in order. This person has a career they enjoy, a permanent home in a nice part of the city, a spouse, and a child.

And this person is envious of what I have: A tiny basement apartment with no windows, a rapidly depleting bank account (well, I’m still doing about 55.3 trillion dollars better than the American economy, so I guess I don’t have it that bad) a pile of new paintings that is accumulating more slowly than I would like, and a broken cellphone.

Wow. All these little things kinda made me lose sight of one big thing: unlike 90% of my former classmates, I’m still doing it. I’m still making art. That dream I had back when I was five is now a reality. I had forgotten about that.

A few nice words can really make someone’s day. Thank you.

OK, back to the studio…

Published by

Kyle Clements

Kyle Clements is a Toronto-based artist and nerd. During his thesis at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Kyle began working on his Urban Landscapes series, a body of work that aims to capture the energy and excitement of life in the fast-paced urban environment. After graduating from OCAD in 2006, Kyle spent a year living in Asia to gather source material and experience in a different kind or urban environment. His work is vibrant and colourful. Whether painting the harsh Northern landscape, or capturing the overwhelming buzz of life in the city, his acrylic paintings hover between representation and abstraction.