A Letter From The Doc

Hola, frogs & toads! If you’re new here - welcome to the club; you are now a part of an elite society of makers, thinkers, and feelers. Your membership isn’t just for life, it’s for eternity. You can unsubscribe at any point, but just know… you’ll be in the club forever.

If you’re familiar with this newsletter, you know that I’ve been experimenting quite a bit since wrapping up my last project in June of 2024, and jumping full force into this community and its ethos: make art, have fun, feel good. Here’s synopsis of how the last year has gone…

As a lifelong “content guy”, my first swing was to make videos. I started a podcast, where I got to chat with some incredible, insightful, and truly creative guests like Artis, a talented portrait painter who captures the beauty of strangers in public, Amelia Knott, an artist and art therapist who’s helps people build healthier relationships with their digital consumption, and Sam Evans, who’s paintings scratch a powerful, nostalgic itch that so many of us feel (at least if you grew up in the 80’s or 90’s and like The Sopranos and pro wrestling). There’s a few other interviews on my channel, if you want to check them out. There’s also a bunch of fun art lessons, where I have some hilarious guests join me in learning how to make stuff.

The videos were fun, but after several months of making them, it didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. I loved having those conversations, and I’m so grateful to the many awesome guests who graciously agreed to share their wisdom on the platform of a stranger, but I was clearly directionless. I was asking questions, because I’m just a curious guy who likes to learn things, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know what I was trying to learn. I didn’t know what I was looking for, or who my videos might impact. I also noticed that editing and managing a channel was taking up quite literally all of my time, leaving no room to focus on growth, community, or my own art practice.

So I decided to shift gears. The new plan: online community. I spent weeks building a website, creating event listings, and putting all the details together to host virtual art events. If you’re an early subscriber of the newsletter, this might be around the time you signed up. I got into Greg Isenberg mode and set up “email capture funnels” and learnt about “digital community platforms”. I wired the fuck in. I think I set up something like 32 virtual workshops, and once I pressed that button and made them live to the public, the strangest thing happened… Nobody signed up. Whoever coined the term “build it and they will come” was a donkey for that one.

Lesson learned: you need people to care about what you’re doing. You can be the best stand up comedian in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you’re talking to an empty room. That’s when I went back to the drawing board again; I erased all the virtual events, and decided instead, I’d do it in person. Real people, real places, real experiences. In the back of my mind, that always felt like an inevitability, but as a naturally introverted, socially awkward creative type, I was trying to avoid being at the centre of IRL gatherings on a regular basis.

Then I did one, and I had so much fun. And people seemed to really enjoy themselves. And I felt really purposeful and fulfilled bringing a room full of people together to get creative. And I felt really excited to do a bunch more of these and make them better and better and better. Not to mention, I also generated a tiny profit, marking my first revenue in over a year. The whole thing felt incredibly validating. Dr Lemco’s Creative Club is a real, tangible thing, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I know what I’m doing. I know what I have to offer, and I know how valuable that offer is. That’s a good feeling.

All that to say - come hang out and make some art with me! Dr Lemco’s Creative Club has some fun events on the horizon, check em’ out HERE, or I’ll break them down below. You can hit me up for a promo code and I’ll give you one.

I’ll definitely get back to making videos, and I still think a virtual version of the creative club is a good idea, but those will come in time. One thing at a time; right now, I host paint parties and art events, and I’m stoked about that!

Upcoming Events

This upcoming Sunday, July 27th, it’s a SELF PORTRAIT PAINT PARTY at Beardlington Cafe (6200 Monk) in Ville Emard. We’ve got (fresh off of Just For Laughs festival) comedians Andrina Learmonth and Brad MacDonald, as well as live music from Callahan. Limited spaces left!

If you like pro wrestling, painting, or just hanging out with some cool people and having some drinks at a bar, then come to the WWE SummerSlam Watch & Paint on Saturday August 2nd. Tickets are dumb cheap right now tbh, and this is gonna be so fun.

We’re getting our drinks and our creatives juices flowing at A PAINT FIESTA, Wednesday August 6th at Le Tequila Bar in St Henri. You can expect painting, great music, incredible food & drink, and immaculate vibes.

I’m cooking up some next shit for the end of the summer and beginning of the fall, so stay tuned because I’m really excited about what’s coming together!

Doc’s Orders

If anything in this email resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you! Let’s connect - you can reply to this or DM me on social media. Also, if this kinda shit might resonate with anybody you know, I’d greatly appreciate you sharing it with them! I’m attempting to grow a community of creative weirdos, but I don’t know how, so any help spearing the gospel is a real miztvah.

That’s all for now, kiddos. Oh, one more thing - will you do me a favor and have yourself a great day? That’s a prescription 😉