Mary to display 60 years of art at ‘Celebration of Painting’

Mary Scott has had a love of art for the past six decades.

“Painting has certainly been one of the big joys of my life,” she said, “and I do want to celebrate it.”

But Mary was involved in a different creative medium before painting.

She said: “I started off as a stained glass artist, that’s what I graduated in from Edinburgh Art College.

“I would have liked to have pursued that as a career but I had my daughter when I was 24 and really felt I had to get into work to support her.

“So I did retraining and then I taught for almost 20 years.

“Then I had another baby when I was 40, my son, and then I became a foster carer in the Borders region for quite a long time to teenage children.”

Her paintings include landscapes, portraits, still-life pieces and flower paintings.

“At busy times in my life it’s been maybe flower paintings and things that are less demanding,” she said. “But in recent years I’ve done much more varied things.

“I’ve just finished a series of war paintings as I feel very deeply about the situation in Palestine and Gaza and they’ll be in the exhibition.”

Mary had hoped to mark her 80th birthday with an exhibition of her creations, however, the coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold.

Four years on and after a bout of Covid-19, a hospital stay for a bad knee and moving to her son’s house in Broughton, Mary is looking forward to showcasing her work.

She added: “I wouldn’t be able to do a thing without their [son and grandchild] terrific support.

“Their support and the rest of the family too – I have a daughter who lives in Edinburgh.”

The exhibition is in aid of Mary’s Meals, a cause very close to Mary’s heart.

She said: “It [Mary’s Meals] aims at feeding children at school to help them attend school when they might otherwise have to work for their family or just simply be too hungry to learn.”

Mary is hoping to have more than 50 paintings on display in the hall.

While Mary is celebrating six decades of painting, she has no plans on stopping any time soon.

Mary’s Celebration of Painting will be on show at St Andrew’s Parish Church in West Linton from today (July 26) to August 9.

Some of Mary’s designs can be bought in various forms at: www.redbubble.com/people/crows369/shop