Artist’s Statement:
This month’s featured artist: Thoughts from Gretchen Scott-Blyth
I remember art at a primary school when we were all crowded on the floor painting.
The legs of inspectors and the teacher stood above me and they reached down and took my painting of fishermen and a net.
It was a surprise and a little shocking waking from my dream world.
When I told my father he guffawed and I was left with a diminished sense of the importance of this surprise.
At twelve I got glasses and the world came rushing toward me delineated in sharp detail, quite uncomfortable. So my eyesight has never been great!
I drew biology drawings for other students in high school.
My interest in Psychology and Philosophy lead me to university but I was disappointed in the Behaviorist emphasis and after one year went to Elam in the 60s I think it was the first year they allowed people into art school with UE and without an art portfolio.
Here two teachers had an influence Garth Tapper and Colin McCahon both great painters and understanding men who gave much encouragement.
My interest in philosophy continued and Colin told me three things which resonated with me.
Art is about Life and Death (you need life experience to paint
anything significant)
Black follows white
Everything is given in Nature.
I admire so many wonderful artists in the world and often for an authenticity in being human.
I love Giorgione and Titian, Fra Angelico and Rembrandt, Frieda Kahlo and too many to name and it is an ongoing discovery.
I find it hard to justify why I would paint but it has been a most useful tool in my working life and for some people they have bought my work and it gives them pleasure.
At forty six after my fifth child went to school I trained as a teacher at ACE.
Those two years reopened my painting life which had closed completely during family years.
There was much pleasure and creativity in teaching which I did for some years in many different schools.
I taught for North Art and privately from home.
I continued training in Psychology and art therapy.
I had a short contract with men in maximum security prison and here my training in counseling and particularly interactive drawing therapy was useful.
I was also able to combine my interest in psychology with the art, in my work with immigrants as an Employment Trainer which I did for four years.
Art is a non-threatening way to integrate groups of people who don't share a common language and through pictures they can tell their stories.
My own oil paintings and water colours sold mostly from home, over thirty works and I now have work in England, Japan and Germany.
I have done some commissioned portraits.
I see art as a wonderful means of communication on many levels.
A community art centre gives many people a sociable place to gather, share ideas and friendship and learn from those who have skills to pass on.
Gretchen Scott-Blyth
This month’s featured artist: Thoughts from Gretchen Scott-Blyth
I remember art at a primary school when we were all crowded on the floor painting.
The legs of inspectors and the teacher stood above me and they reached down and took my painting of fishermen and a net.
It was a surprise and a little shocking waking from my dream world.
When I told my father he guffawed and I was left with a diminished sense of the importance of this surprise.
At twelve I got glasses and the world came rushing toward me delineated in sharp detail, quite uncomfortable. So my eyesight has never been great!
I drew biology drawings for other students in high school.
My interest in Psychology and Philosophy lead me to university but I was disappointed in the Behaviorist emphasis and after one year went to Elam in the 60s I think it was the first year they allowed people into art school with UE and without an art portfolio.
Here two teachers had an influence Garth Tapper and Colin McCahon both great painters and understanding men who gave much encouragement.
My interest in philosophy continued and Colin told me three things which resonated with me.
Art is about Life and Death (you need life experience to paint
anything significant)
Black follows white
Everything is given in Nature.
I admire so many wonderful artists in the world and often for an authenticity in being human.
I love Giorgione and Titian, Fra Angelico and Rembrandt, Frieda Kahlo and too many to name and it is an ongoing discovery.
I find it hard to justify why I would paint but it has been a most useful tool in my working life and for some people they have bought my work and it gives them pleasure.
At forty six after my fifth child went to school I trained as a teacher at ACE.
Those two years reopened my painting life which had closed completely during family years.
There was much pleasure and creativity in teaching which I did for some years in many different schools.
I taught for North Art and privately from home.
I continued training in Psychology and art therapy.
I had a short contract with men in maximum security prison and here my training in counseling and particularly interactive drawing therapy was useful.
I was also able to combine my interest in psychology with the art, in my work with immigrants as an Employment Trainer which I did for four years.
Art is a non-threatening way to integrate groups of people who don't share a common language and through pictures they can tell their stories.
My own oil paintings and water colours sold mostly from home, over thirty works and I now have work in England, Japan and Germany.
I have done some commissioned portraits.
I see art as a wonderful means of communication on many levels.
A community art centre gives many people a sociable place to gather, share ideas and friendship and learn from those who have skills to pass on.
Gretchen Scott-Blyth