Finding Gwythian By Mary Scott

Mary Scott,
Finding Gwythian
Original Seascape Painting
Acrylic Paint on Board
Board size H 30 cm x W 30 cm x D 0.5 cm
Framed size H 33 cm x W 33 cm x D 3 cm
Sold Framed in a White Wood Float Frame
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Please note that In Situ images are purely an indication of how a piece may look.

Finding Gwythian is a contemporary acrylic painting on board by Mary Scott.

It is inspired by my first discovery of the stretch of sandy coast on the east side of St Ives Bay, walked on a beautiful and breezy September day. Until then, I had been mesmerised by the glimpse of it across the ever changing expanse of the bay.

Recalling memory, experience and emotion of special places, captured and imprinted on my mind, is very important to me when I paint. 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 the lovely harbour town of St Ives, its own beaches, and those further east towards Gwythian. I always leave Cornwall refreshed and invigorated by its dramatic beauty.

I have had a lifelong love of being immersed in ancient landscapes and wild places, enhanced by reading earth sciences at university. My approach to painting is largely intuitive. I may start out with a sense of direction, but then investigate colour, shape and textural mark-making in an open and exploratory way, 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 develops contrasts between the ancient permanence of rock formations, landscapes developing through time, and the present and future possibilities of the elements above.

Based in Shipton-under-Wychwood in the Cotswolds, I visit Cornwall as often as I can. In 2020-21, I am excited to be heading regularly to St Ives where I will be taking part in the year-long mentored Porthmeor Programme at the School of Painting.

Size: H:33 cm x W:33 cm

Mary Scott artist and painter with Wychwood Art. Mary Scott paints abstract landscapes to make sense of her emotional response to, and memories of, wild places. Mary is influenced by her early career as a geologist, and in a busy world, she invites the viewer to slow down, and immerse themselves in space and time. Mary Scott's adopted home, Cornwall, and her journeys further afield, provide wonderful natural environments in which to walk, and to absorb and reflect on the landscape. Mary Scott uses a range of materials including acrylics, oils, cold wax, rock powders and natural pigments, to make responses which are fast and slow, bold and subtle, exuberant and quiet, capturing her feelings and memories over many layers. Mary’s approach is intuitively liberating, using both colour (or its absence) and texture freely and responsively. Mary is very conscious of our human smallness in space and time. In a fast-paced world, she finds herself reflecting on the enormity of geological time, slowing down my process to create a glimpse through windows into the past of these ancient landscapes which require nothing from us but stillness. Instead, we humans have imposed our will and errors of judgement, and she is disturbed by environmental degradation heaped on our planet. Mary borrows from the geological world to express this, for example, making marks to represent fractures, fissures and fault lines. In contrast, she uses loose shapes and embracing curves as metaphors for how the Earth has held and sustained life through time. Having recently undertaken a year-long progamme at St Ives School of Painting, she is currently developing her practice through participating in Newlyn School of Art’s ‘Professional Landscape’ mentoring programme. Mary Scott artist is shown in Wychwood Art gallery and online . Please call 07799 535 765 or email deborah@wychwoodart.com .