Women in Art: Hillary Scott Fine Art

How a female, plein air, landscape artist is inspiring others through social media.

Every Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, I put on my business cap. I drive away from my country setting into east Memphis where I focus on sales and business development for my company. Recently, at work, there has been a huge focus on women in business and female business owners. Every year "corporate" invests in a nation-wide survey of small and mid-sized business owners. One thing that was done differently in this year's SMB Insight Report was a focus on key differences and similarities between men and women business owners.

Despite the remarkable strides in market power and social position women have made in the past century, they still appear to be undervalued in the marketplace and underestimated in the workplace.

It is estimated that 39% of businesses will be woman-owned before 2020. As that percentage grows and more women- owned businesses succeed it makes me proud to be a woman executive during such a pivotal moment for women in the workplace. It also makes me think more and more about my side career as a southern artist who paints well into the late nights during the week, and all weekend long while my sales and business development cap rests.

There are a handful of artists I follow who help keep me focused and motivated and I decided to highlight some of my favorite female artists in my upcoming posts. Today I want to highlight a female artist who I love to watch on Instagram. Her name is Hillary Scott. She is actually one of the few artists I plan to mention who is not from the south.

Hillary is from northeast Massachusetts and her landscapes, sunsets and morning skies literally make me swoon! She recently became interested in exploring a new direction with her art which is plein air landscapes. Her inspiration comes from the New England landscapes surrounding her. Since Hillary's shift and focus on the effects of light and landscapes she has won several awards. She is a member of the Newburyport Art Association, Oil Painters of America, and is represented by Valerie's Gallery in Newburyport, MA and Renjeau Galleries in Natick, MA. Here are some of my absolute favorites from her instagram @hillaryscott_fineart:

As a landscape painter my eyes gravitate towards similar artwork. Seeing Hillary's depth that she brings to each painting with her use of light, highlights and shadows helps me recognize where I can improve my own techniques with landscapes. Since I consider myself a "raw artist" who does not have a formal art education background I feel as if I study her work and it helps improve my own. I have not been following Hillary long on instagram but I think she is one of the most talented female landscape painters I have seen. As I finish out the southern landscape series for 148 North permanent collection I watch her posts and new pieces she is working on. Every time i see her work I am literally awe-struck. Hillary is one of my favorite landscape painters and since she is the only female landscape painter of the ones I follow I definitely wanted to share her work and how it inspires me during those late week day nights and long weekend days. Here is her website to see more of her beautiful landscapes: www.hillaryscottstudios.com.