Scott Switzer has devoted himself to painting on a full-time basis since 1981. With the exceptions of a few years spent in Washington and California, Scott enjoyed living close to his birthplace, Billings, Montana, for most of his early years. Scott received his formal art education at Otis/Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles, California, but considers time spent in a variety of mentorships with several prominent artists, fellowship with his contemporaries, and personal study of art history, along with his own personal victories and failures throughout the 25 year duration of his creative pursuit to be the greatest contributors to his work.

Scott’s horizons have been broadened through painting trips to Mexico, Russia and China. A common thread throughout these travels, and a constant source of inspiration to Scott, has been relationship. Because free discourse and enterprise was restricted (if not completely forbidden) in China, Scott secretly engaged in dialogue with and bought art from Chinese students and their accomplished professors at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. In a small Mexican fishing village while introducing a gifted young father to canvas and paint, Scott sparked a fast fellowship that required him to humbly accept gifts of food and hospitality from that man’s community. Solitary exploration of the Hermitage and The Russian Museum, seeing in life paintings previously admired only in great books was only enhanced by debating good-naturedly and dining on such delicacies as pork fat with the multi-generational family who so generously invited Scott to share their small cottage outside St. Petersburg.

Scott’s oils are colorfully bold and executed in an impressionist style from plein-aire studies. He is equally adept with any subject: landscapes, portraits or still life subject matter. His brush strokes are simply luscious.

Scott spent many years living with his wife and children in Alaska, residing in both a small Russian village on the Kenai Peninsula and in Homer. Currently, Scott and his family live in Medford, Oregon. Nevertheless, Scott has persevered with Alaska as his primary subject matter and has maintained Artique Ltd. in Anchorage, Alaska, as his feature gallery.

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