Ian Scott Massie

Ian Scott Massie

I have looked forward to dedicating a whole exhibition to Scotland for many years so I was delighted to be invited to show at The Birch Tree Gallery in Edinburgh for the 2018 Festival Fringe. My father's family home of Aberdeen, my mother's of Edinburgh and my travels around the West Coast have been the impetus behind this work, but it has also allowed me to explore a few places less known to me like the Falkirk Wheel and Jedburgh Abbey.

Ian Scott trained at Neviiles Cross College, Durham in 1973 to become a teacher and also continued performing as a musician. After university he lived in Durham until 1982, working for The Manpower Services Commission  and Beamish Museum before becoming a self-employed musician and artist. He moved to Berkshire in 1982 but returned to the North, moving to Masham, North Yorkshire, in 1987, where his current studio is. Ian Scott began painting professionally while a student. Working first in oils and screen print, his work progressed through pen and ink and acrylic paint before he found widespread success in the medium of watercolour. In many ways his work is a continuation of the themes which underpinned several artists of the British Romantic School of the 1930s – most notably Paul Nash and John Piper. Ian Scott continues to pursue a parallel career as a musician, teaching guitar and coaching rock bands, and occasionally performing onstage.