(b. 1955, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (Formerly Rhodesia) Nationally renowned artist Lindsay Scott is acclaimed for her dynamic and precise oil paintings and her exquisitely detailed pencil drawings, all of which convey the drama and spirit of African Wildlife. With a background as an illustrator, a botanical researcher and a biologist, Scott is an avid observer of nature, and her works reflect her close study of animal life, conveying a candid sense of firsthand experience while capturing intimate emotional moments.

Growing up in her native Zimbabwe, Scott was surrounded by a tropical setting, and she spent her youth watching wildlife and learning to survive in the bush. She began to draw at an early age, and her skills were recognized by a high school art teacher, who encouraged her to pursue art as a career. Accordingly, she moved to Capetown, South Africa, to attend the Michealis School of Fine Art. At that time, the school was emphasizing abstract art, and the representational work that interested Scott was discouraged. She therefore supplemented her studies by taking courses in botany, biology and zoology and doing field sketched of plants and wildlife. To continue her studies, she transferred to the University of Minnesota, where she earned a degree in fine art and minored in biology.

On her return to South Africa, Scott became a botanical researcher at the University of Cape Town and a curator of paleobotany and ornithology at the South African museum. she also led natural history field trips throughout Africa and Antarctica and spent fourteen months in Australia researching bird behavior for the National Geographic Society. During this period, Scott recorded her observations on numerous sketch pads.

In 1984, when one of Scott's drawings was chosen for Birds In Art, the prestigious annual exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, she decided to devote her full attention to art. In her characteristic style, she developed meticulous illustration methods and melded and expressive use of paint to create images that appear tightly rendered from a distance, but upon closer examination revealed fluid brush work that gives forms a blurred and abstract appearance. A key to Scott's art is that rather than focusing on individual objects, she is primarily attentive to reflected light and the way it integrates pictorial elements.

I don't think of painting objects but rather painting the light as it reflects from them. And I do this by using a very limited palette, just eight basic colors with the occasional addition of a few others, and I mix the same colors for both the subject and the environment. If every color somehow shows a touch of the other colors in a piece, everything comes together-subject, background, and especially the light.

This harmony is readily apparent in Scott's Works, which combine naturalistic fact with a strong feeling for light and mood. Scott has exhibited her art extensively in America, England, and Africa and has received a number of important honors including an award of excellence from the Society of Animal Artists in 1992 and best of show and first place at the Pacific Rim Wildlife Art show in Tacoma, Washington, in the same year.

The National Museum of Wildlife Art has acquired two major paintings of Scott's for their permanent collection. Other major public collection's that include her work are the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, San Bernardino County Museum of Art and Standard Bank of South Africa. Lindsay's work has been exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London, England and been auctioned at Christie's and Sotheby's in London. Her paintings and drawings are in great demand at some of the finest Art Galleries in America and England.

Lindsay's work has been featured in, and on the cover of, many magazines including Southwest Art, African Sporting Gazette, Wildlife Art, Sporting Classics and most recently the cover of Gray's Sporting Journal. The July 2005 issue of Africa Geographic magazine will have an feature on her and her work with the African Wildlife Foundation. Lindsay works with many conservation organizations including the Jane Goodall Foundation, the Yellowstone Foundation and most notably the African Wildlife Foundation. To find out more about their important projects in Africa go to www.awf.org

When she is not travelling around the world in search of new subjects, Scott and her husband Brian McPhun live and work in the Matakana Valley, in New Zealand

For all inquires scott2000@xtra.co.nz

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