Mother proves it’s never too late as she wins art prize at 52
SHE only started art seriously in her late 40s when she started a degree course.
Now, a mother of three who started a late career in art, has been announced as the winner of Scotland’s biggest prize for emerging talent.
Charlene Scott, 52, from East Lothian, has won the 2024 Glenfiddich Artist in Residence prize worth £15,000. She was awarded the prize for her work using folded paper and homemade botanical pigments.
Ms Scott only took up the hobby in her 40s, heading to art school, and will now spend three months this summer at the Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown, Moray, as part of its Artists in Residence (AIR) programme. She will be accompanied by a range of talent from around the world.
The former travel agent said she was “shocked and delighted” to win the award. She added: “The residency is such a gift.
“My work is quite slow, and I need time to soak up my surroundings. I’m really looking forward to developing my work at Glenfiddich.”
Ms Scott creates her work by making her own colours from plants she has cultivated in her garden and has been hailed by those behind the award as a complex and underestimated artist.
She said: “I use a stove in the garden for making pigments – when I use the kitchen my family complains about the smell.
“I can’t help but make connections between the aesthetics of minimalism and the basic principles of herbalism and ecology.
“I use line, folds, repetition and pattern along with botanical pigments to build a framework that I hope will entice a viewer to look closely and linger a little longer.”
The prize, supported by distillery owner William Grant & Sons, is awarded annually at the RSA New Contemporaries exhibition in Edinburgh, which is regarded as the leading showcase of emerging art in Scotland.
Ms Scott, who has two grown-up daughters and a 16-year-old son, fulfilled a lifelong ambition when she started a degree course at Edinburgh College of Art.
Co-ordinator of the Residence Programme at Glenfiddich, Andy Fairgrieve, says Ms Scott’’s distinctive work, made by folding paper to create lines and patterns then adding colour from natural pigments she makes herself, caught the eye of the judges and was hard to overlook.
He said: “It would be easy to underestimate the works of Charlene Scott. However, the longer you linger and absorb her works more is revealed.
“Not unlike a well-crafted single malt whisky, her work is a clean yet complex celebration of simplicity with a great sense of hidden depth. She will be a perfect fit to this year’s Glenfiddich Residency.”
While at Edinburgh College of Art, she won the James Cumming Award for Draughtsmanship, the Astaire Art Prize, and an RSA John Kinross Travel Scholarship, which enabled her to spend six weeks in Florence.
The RSA New Contemporaries exhibition shows work by recent graduates selected from Scotland’s five art schools.
Due to a cancelled exhibition during the pandemic, this year it features 104 artists, double the usual number, drawing graduates from the classes of 2022 and 2023.
Gareth Fisher, RSA president and co-convener of the New Contemporaries exhibition, said: “The support offered to emerging artists through the Glenfiddich Artist-inresidence Award at RSA New Contemporaries showcases Glenfiddich’s commitment to investing in Scottish creative talent.
“Not only is the recipient provided with the time and space to develop their practice, but the opportunity also gives unparalleled access to a network of international artists.”
The residency is such a gift. I’m really looking forward to developing my work at Glenfiddich