Mary Scott

Love Letters to Cornwall VI by Mary Scott, Contemporary Abstract art

2022

Mary Scott artist with Wychwood Art. Mary Scott comments "I have had a lifelong love of being immersed in ancient landscapes and wild places, enhanced by reading earth sciences at university which led to opportunities in my early career to study rocks and landforms both in the UK and abroad. I now enjoy using a variety of mixed media, mainly acrylic paints with inks, charcoal and pencil, to produce semi-abstract landscapes. I particularly enjoy exploring contrasts of colour and light between the ancient solid rock and landscape, and the ever-changing wild energy of sea and sky. My approach to painting is largely intuitive and spontaneous. I may start out with a sense of direction, but then investigate colour, shape and textural mark-making in an open and exploratory way through the course of building thicker and thinner layers of paint and glazes, before scraping back to discover what lies beneath. This process of revealing glimpses, half-hidden things and curious marks helps to develop contrasts between the ancient permanence of rock formations, landscapes developing through time, and the present and future possibilities of the elements above. Recalling memory, experience and emotion of special places, captured and imprinted on my mind, I am also drawn to new discoveries. In the last few years, I have been particularly inspired by the energy of the wild cliffs and coves of the north coast of Cornwall, and return there regularly, always coming away refreshed and invigorated by its dramatic beauty in every season. Following training in collage and acrylic/mixed media painting with teachers here in the Cotswolds, I have engaged in international web-enabled art courses during Covid-19. During late 2020 and 2021, I am excited to be heading down each month to St Ives to take up my place on the year-long mentored Porthmeor Programme at the School of Painting.