Blythe Scott
Blythe Scott was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1969. From 2012 to 2024, she lived and pursued her career in Canada from Victoria, British Columbia, before returning to settle in her native Scotland. Although their starting point is reality, her paintings are joyful works of fiction, a positive and uplifting view of the world which has a dream-like quality. Her colours are cheerful and her textures festive.
Blythe Scott - Thirsty for Texture
Blythe Scott was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1969. In 2012, she immigrates to Canada and works from her studio in Victoria, British Columbia, until 2024, the year she returns to Scotland.
Background and career
Born in a very artistic home -both her parents were art teachers- Blythe grew up understanding that the creative journey would be a valuable and even essential journey in itself.
Immediately after high school, she was fortunate to be accepted as a student at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art where she graduated with an honours degree in 1991. A few years later, she achieved a post graduate with distinction in Art & Design Education from Strathclyde University, Glasgow.
Since then, she has travelled to and lived in various cities around the world and has worked as a decorative artist in Paris, gallery artist, gallery assistant and a passionate teacher of adults and children. Today, her time is entirely dedicated to producing art, and she exhibits in galleries both in western and eastern Canada. Her work is in private and corporate collections in North America, Asia, the UK, Europe, Australia and Iceland.
Work and art
Blythe Scott describes herself firmly as a mixed media artist. Whether she focuses on landscape, cityscape and still life, harmonious colour, textural interest and a whimsical sensation are always important in her work.
She uses watercolour, acrylics and collage. Her work is underpinned by rigourous drawing on a variety of scales. Much of her drawing is created through the laying down of texture pastes, stucco, sand and collage of distressed metal leaf. This is to create a strong composition but also to ensure textural intrigue in even the uppermost layers. However, it is ultimately drawing that is her anchor for expression and communication. Conviction of line and a wide repertoire of mark-making add a strong emotional content to her pieces.
Growing up in an architecturally rich city and travelling often in mainland Europe led Blythe to settle upon cityscape and architectural detail as a theme for many years. Moving to Canada in 2012 has encouraged her to look at landscape in a new way, with architecture in relation to the surrounding natural environment. Many of her pieces are now more about the context than about the buildings themselves.
“ While my starting point is reality, my paintings are ultimately only part fact and mostly fiction. I am aiming to present a positive and uplifting view of the world which has a dream-like quality. I strive to leave the viewer with a feeling of well being and a sense that the world is a kinder place than they might sometimes think. "
Blythe Scott is represented by the Au P'tit Bonheur Art Gallery since July 2018, exclusively for Canada.
