Meet Ann Scott

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ann Scott. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ann, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

This question is almost too easy. My creativity is driven by curiosity. I am curious and interested in everything which is a blessing and a curse. When I go on a hike I want to know all about the area, it’s history, it’s plants and geology and I take a lot of photos which often end up as paintings which, I hope, contain something of what I learned about the area even if it is not obvious. Many times I’ll see something compelling in the landscape or deep in the woods and I’ll wonder how it would work out as a painting. So many of my paintings start with the question “can I paint that”.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

It all began because of a dream. I was 12 years old and had the most beautiful dream of me hovering over a lush tropical jungle that surrounded a perfectly round, outrageously blue pond or lake. The minute I woke up I grabbed by paint-by-numbers and a cardboard from my father’s dry cleaned shirt and painted the dream. The painting was awful but that was the exact moment I decided I had to paint until I got it right. Now, many many decades later I paint all the time but I never did recreate that dream. I decided to keep it to myself. Where I grew up there was no place for a young artist to learn their craft. I struggled on my own until high school when I took art class and saw so many possibilities and directions. I did go to college for art but frankly it was a disaster. All they wanted was for me to be an abstract painter and that was never my path…I am a realist painter. So I am largely self taught and never stop learning. I paint outdoors (plein air) and in my very tiny studio. I am open to doing workshops and have from time to time but for most of my life as a painter I also worked either full or part time jobs so I am very selfish with my painting time. Now that I’m retired I just want to paint! At one point in my art life I had galleries and consultants and was very successful but it all went poof when the stock market crashed in the 90’s. So I changed my goal of getting galleries into showing everywhere and anywhere I could. I belong to a number of highly respected art associations and show regularly.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Curiosity, flexibility and perseverance! Those three qualities can help with any path a person chooses to walk in life. However, if you plan on going into the arts, any art form, they are essential. Curiosity drives my creativity. In the arts you have to be flexible both in how you survive and feed yourself and be flexible in finding your artistic voice. Meaning are you meant to sing, write, dance, paint or play an instrument? Explore everyone of those till you find out. Ah perseverance – you will need a lot of that. Here’s a personal example of flexibility and perseverance. When I had galleries and consultants I was able to leave full time work and focus on painting. It was awesome and my biggest dream coming true. Then the market crash in the 90’s! In one month’s time I lost two of my three galleries and my consultant. I had a mortgage and no sure income so I figured in hard times there were two safe choices…law or liquor! So I got a part time job in a small law firm where I learned about how a firm works then left and got even better part time job in a bigger law firm. Then I lost my 3rd gallery tragically because the gallery manager was in an accident and thankfully survived but was unable to continue the gallery. Those years were big exercises in flexibility and perseverance. Speaking of which I have not been able get another gallery but no matter I have not stopped painting for one minute I have some long time collectors who have stuck with me and I show my work regularly. I decided to join a few highly regarded art associations rather than pursue galleries and they have been a great fit. However, that being said if a really good gallery wanted to take me on I’d be thrilled.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed and for me, when that happens, I sit down, take a look at everything and decide what needs to be done first or is more important and what can be set aside. Sometimes I find out that all I’m fretting about isn’t really terribly important and this helps me to focus on what needs to be done asap and what I can just let go. It will all work out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.annscottpainting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annscottpaintings/