Sandy Scott

Big Bruiser

2000

Sandy Scott received her formal art training at the Kansas City Art Institute and later worked as an animation background artist for the motion picture industry. She turned her attention to etchings and printmaking in the 1970’s and to sculpture in the 1980’s. Born in Dubuque, Iowa in 1943 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she is now headquartered in Lander, Wyoming near the foundry that casts her bronzes and she maintains studios on Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada and in the mountains of northern Colorado. Surrounded by mountains, lakes and streams, she is an avid outdoorswoman who loves to hunt and fish. In Canada her friends Dave and Michelle Beaushane who own Nestor Falls Fly-In Outposts frequently fly her and Trish (her long time friend who manages the business end of things) to remote lakes and portages north of Kenora, Ontario. She has made 16 trips to Alaska and has been to Europe, Russia, China and South America to visit the world’s great museums. She believes wildlife artists should be in the field to accurately present their subject to the viewer. Her work is authentic. She has experienced and lived what she depicts. A lifelong interest in aviation has been invaluable to her work as an artist. A licensed pilot for almost 50 years, she says, “I believe my knowledge of aerodynamics has been helpful in achieving the illusion of movement in my bird sculptures.” Her knowledge of aerodynamics was particularly evident in Mallard Duet, a sold out sculpture that won the Ellen P. Speyer Award at the National Academy of Design in New York. This sculpture is in the permanent collection of Brookgreen Gardens and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Sandy’s father raised and bred quarter horses and ranched in northeastern Oklahoma which instilled in her a love and knowledge of horses and animals. She has a beautiful Morgan gelding that she used as a model for her powerful truncated equestrian sculpture entitled “Equus Found Fragments” which recently won the Award of Excellence at the Society of Animal Artists Exhibition. When asked what influenced her work most she replies, “First was the time I spent at the Kansas City Art Institute, it opened my eyes to the fundamentals of art and imparted a lifelong interest and love of art history; second was my trip to the north country and Lake of the Woods when I was a kid, it introduced me to what would become a never ending source and inspiration; third has been teaching workshops: teaching is an ongoing discipline – I’ve learned and continue to learn through teaching.” Sandy participates in annual juried exhibitions including those at the Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA; Prix de West, Oklahoma City, OK; National Sculpture Society, New York, NY; Society of Animal Artists, New York, NY; Gilcrease Rendezvous, Tulsa, OK; Northwest Rendezvous, Helena, MT; Cheyenne Frontier Days Museum Show, Cheyenne, WY; Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY; and the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY.