Gillian Scott

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Gillian learnt about natural history and painting early in life from her parents. The diversity of species and their intricate colours followed throughout her career as a marine biologist. Marooned inland she later turned her interest to the Australian flora and followed her long-held desire to become a botanical artist. This she has done very successfully with works commissioned by the two main international collections of botanical art as well as many private patrons. She couples her knowledge of the biological world with another aspect of her life, writing. To date she has written about funnel-web spiders, mistletoes and plankton and has helped many others get their work into shape for publication. Currently she is concentrating on a large body of artwork called “Trees Etc.”

METHODOLOGY

Gillian paints from life but couples the living specimens with careful photo shots to record the minute details of structure and colouring in her plant subjects. She knows it is essential to get the ‘feel’ of the plant before starting to depict it and her careful compositions reflect this concern for reality. Being an academic botanist means she is aware of the importance of recording the plants accurately and having as much as possible of their life history in her pictures. She has recently been adapting the style of her paintings to make them lighter in overall tone by including pencil drawing of the foliage and some intricate details.

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