I was born in Greenwich Village, New York, in the sixties, to artistic parents who knew many of the artists, actors, writers, and dancers of that era. It was an extraordinarily creative environment to live in and I was exposed to all the benefits of that cultural milieu. Creativity was as natural to us as breathing.

My mother and father were both cultured, educated people who believed that children should be given the benefits of an artistic education. I studied ballet, jazz, and modern dance, learned to play the guitar, and was given all kinds of books to read. Reading was encouraged; television was forbidden, so I grew up pop-culture deprived, a mixed blessing. However, I was taken to every play and ballet available. I have vivid memories of seeing the works of Shakespeare performed in the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, a replica of the original theater in London.

Since my father was a writer, who actually made his living writing, we followed the work available. We moved from New York City to Kentucky to San Diego, and then on to Northern California. At times, I went to two schools per year. I became accustomed to change early on. In some respects, this is the ideal atmosphere to produce an artist, as creativity springs from your own personal experience.

Interestingly, I was never given any formal art training as a child. I drew every day from an early age and my parents could see that art lessons might be redundant. I was in my twenties, with a few years of college already behind me before I decided to major in fine art.

My art history teacher convinced me that my creative abilities were viable, so I decided to attend the Art Institute of Seattle, earning a degree in Graphic Design. Upon graduation, I worked in the computer design field by day and studied Renaissance painting at night, a post-graduate class offered by two faculty members of AIS.

I discovered that Galleries will show unknown artists, if you apply to enough of them. Marriage and two children intervened with my art career, as did caring for my parents. I spent the years from 2002 - 04 writing the monthly film reviews for my father’s cultural newsletter, Otto Scott’s Compass, which reduced the time I had to produce fine art paintings. The film reviews are available in an RSS feed for those who are interested.

2006 marks the emergence of time available to me to create again. I had the opportunity to finally complete a portrait of my daughter (I have several canvases filled with sketches of her at various ages) and I hope to paint many more, both of my children and other people’s loved-ones. Yes, I do pet portraits as well, though none exist on my site yet.

Ann Elizabeth Scott 2006

annelizabethscott@msn.com