Giovanna  Scott

In 2017 high school teacher Giovanna Scott decided to get serious about her part-time life as a visual artist.

She scaled back her teaching work, carved out dedicated art days, and ramped up her exhibiting and competition entries.

Giovanna’s art is a mixture of collage, acrylic painting, and free-motion stitching.

She describes her works as occupying the space between abstraction and realism…a sweet spot where there is just enough obscurity for the viewer to bring their own experiences to the piece.

My creative space is…

my Galleragio (combined gallery, garage, and studio), which lives beyond a set of daggy brown/beige1970s B&D rollerdoors at the base of our home. It faces the street and our huge front yard so our dog Ruby can romp while I create and we both watch the world go by.

The last piece I created is...

a collage for an upcoming exhibition. It's got lots of layers of acrylic medium and glaze. The final collaged pieces have all been meticulously hand cut.

Inspiration for my art comes from...

nature mostly, but I've been inspired by poetry (my Fragments Series), injury (Botanical Series) and weather (Smoke Series). They all ultimately reflect what happens in nature. I can't help it, because where I live I'm surrounded by mountain ranges and so much natural beauty. Wildlife in my area make surprising appearances in the most unlikely places — snakes in the pool, blue tongues under shelves.

My art is unique because…

I've had to ask other people about this. They highlight my machine stitching, use of acrylic mediums and of course the painted paper collage. It is always interesting to me that when I say collage in relation to my work people don't expect hand-painted paper or the techniques I use to achieve the layers. I guess this is because my style is a mash-up of a lot of different techniques that I have taught myself, mostly by observing others at work, in order to create something that's unique to me.

My favourite tool for creating is…

my GelPlate. I can create my collage papers with it, as well as completed art works. It's slowly gaining in popularity and I love to teach people how to use it. My oldest plate must be about 10 years old now and it's still going strong (I have 3 different sizes but want another...and that's not being indulgent, it's a necessity!)

What I do to conjure the muse…

Unlike others who need to just be in the studio, I need to rest and remove myself completely from it. Whatever it is that is keeping the muse at bay needs my full attention. Until that's resolved I will journal, read, watch TV, take long walks, lunch with friends and visit exhibitions. Then it’s almost like I need to ask permission to return to the studio. I make my way there bit by bit, with hesitation, like approaching an animal that's been neglected - baby steps…but then it's action stations!

Art has taught me…

patience and courage. I want results quickly, and when things don't turn out immediately, in the past I have tended to abandon them. Because my process involves many stages and layers, I now must be patient — often for weeks at a time before the final piece reveals itself. I developed this bad habit of second-guessing myself after my son's ASD diagnosis some years ago and even now, there are times when I just won't even try for fear it will ruin the piece. Most of the time though I will have the confidence to make mistakes and have FUN. I try to take myself less seriously these days, especially in the studio, and I have learned to step away when I am winding myself up about a piece or technique, and go do something else.

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