KEVIN MCINTYRE ESCAPES THROUGH ART
What Kevin McIntyre saw as a means of escape from the wider world became something so much more than a hobby; it became a part of his soul.
WHAT KEVIN McIntyre saw as a means of escape from the wider world became something so much more than a hobby; it became a part of his soul.
Some talents are learnt and some are just natural. They flow through our veins and ooze from of our pores. This seemed to be the case for a little boy that was born and raised in St James, Jamaica, in a small rural community located 10 miles outside the city called Sunderland.
McIntyre remembers that in kindergarten he drew a goat, and reviews that he got from teachers and adults was unbelievable. He never saw it as anything particularly unique or beautiful. In fact, the image of the goat is a blur to him now, but the memory of the excitement that day is quite vivid and he recalled feeling quite proud.
Drawing, however, was not always attached to great memories for McIntyre. His childhood was mixed and filled with ups and downs and some loneliness and hardships.
“My childhood was interesting as it was challenging. It was a time of hardship and loneliness, it was bitter and fun at some points, it was filled with terrible yet beautiful instances that made me laugh and cry, and it was when art became my reality. I would make my toys for my neighbours. It’s hard to recollect and not stay gloomy,” he tells Flair.
Art became a mode of escape for him. His reason for painting has
not completely changed, as he thought that it would when he became an adult.
“I thought that with time, my reason and focus would have changed to some profound philosophical ideal, but it is still for the simple inescapable and harsh realities that I face daily. In essence, art acts as therapy and a way to express myself in ways I may find difficult,” he admitted.
While it was a means of escape, he admits that he cannot give his artistic credit to his pain as he did grow up with a family of creative individuals. His father was a cobbler, who he says tried his hands at everything. From shoemaking to carving, his father did it. Then there was a painting hung in his grandfather’s home that was done by his uncle. It was these experiences that made him believe that one day he would be creating these works even at a tender age. So a year after leaving Herbert Morrison Technical High in 1999, it was no surprise that he had started painting.
He has never stopped, but after years of painting, he decided to attend Edna Manley College in 2013. McIntyre already knew how to paint, but explaining his work was a bit difficult. He had never really given thought to creating them, but he wanted to be able to fully express the context and have fluent conversations about his pieces. This is something that he is now able to do.
His dreams do not end with him being able to express his work, but being an entrepreneur changing lives through art, where necessary. He plans to complete his master’s degree, and is in the process of giving back to Jamaica by assisting in art “where I see fit”.
If he could encourage his fellow artists, he would tell them, “Never stop creating and never try to be like anyone else. Be authentically you and the world will recognise you as you and not a variant of another person. It will be difficult, but keep on creating. And, more important, pursue art as a business and not a hobby. I believe only then you will break the stigma of the starving artist.”