My Perfect Weekend with veteran watercolourist Ong Kim Seng
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Cultural Medallion recipient Ong Kim Seng enjoys taking long walks on weekends to soak up the scenery around him.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ONG KIM SENG
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Who: Singaporean artist Ong Kim Seng, 79, is among the most acclaimed watercolourists in Asia. A self-taught artist, he has received nine awards from the prestigious American Watercolour Society in New York. His collectors include Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II and former United Nations chief Kofi Annan.
The Cultural Medallion recipient celebrates 40 years of being a full-time professional artist with the solo exhibition Roof Of The World – Journeys. The exhibition at artcommune gallery, held from Aug 3 to 21, will display his watercolour works on the Himalayas as well as others depicting Singapore.
Ong is still active as an artist. Earlier in July, he completed a stint as artist in residence at STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, where he worked on monotypes of his old kampung Radin Mas from the 1960s and painted on unconventional materials like mulberry bark.
“During the weekends, I don’t rest. On Fridays and Saturdays, I teach a group of students from all walks of life – some of them doctors, business people, retirees, housewives – en plein air (French for ‘in the open air’).
I introduce them to interesting areas in Singapore and we try to find areas that have not been painted by other artists – for example, Kitchener Road, as well as some parts of the old Serangoon Road. These are areas not often covered by photographers as well. I like to paint Tiong Bahru as well, as the pre-war flats are quite nice.
You have to love the outdoors and shouldn’t fear the heat. Once, when we went to MacRitchie Reservoir, one of my students got her paint stolen by a monkey which climbed up the trees. You have to take along a stool, easel, a hat and a portable fan – and, most importantly, water for mixing your paint and drinking.
On weekends, I take long walks. From Telok Blangah, there is a trail going up to Mount Faber. This was what I did when I was young too – but now, of course, the landscape has changed.
I just walk and enjoy the scenery and breeze for about an hour. If I don’t walk in the morning, I walk in the evening. On these walks, I can ponder and conceptualise certain scenes that I want to paint and different materials I can use.
Clear Day, Kathmandu (2024) by Ong Kim Seng.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ONG KIM SENG
Sometimes, I travel to Malaysia to visit my two daughters. They are both in Petaling Jaya and both married to chefs from Sabah. I eat at their restaurants: Awesome Canteen and Chipta11A. The latter is an omakase restaurant with Sabahan cuisine and quite well-reviewed by food writers. For example, it doesn’t use Japanese vinegar for its sushi and instead uses assam jawa, and I like that.
Nowadays, I don’t travel too far because my wife is not well. In the past, I loved to paint Penang, Ipoh, Bali, Nepal and Bhutan.
Age is catching up with me as well, but I would like to paint more places in the Himalayan mountain ranges. It’s something new, and experiencing new areas gives you the kind of inspiration you don’t get in Singapore.”
Book It/Roof Of The World – Journeys
Where: artcommune gallery, 76 Bras Basah Road str.sg/vSxS
When: Aug 3 to 21, noon to 7pm
Admission: Free
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