Tim Scott Bolton
Works
Overview
Tim Scott Bolton has fished since he was a boy and the painting of rivers has played a significant role in his work as an artist. A river could be considered a thread that connects the different phases of his life. His pictures both stand alone in their own right and simultaneously convey a knowledge and understanding of the ways of a river, executed with an angler's eye.
Luck has it that when painting a river there is often an opportunity to fish, but the two do not always coexist. Many a time the splash of a salmon or trout rising nearby has interrupted his concentration and the trance-like state which takes over when a painting is going well.
He considers himself to be a lucky man to be able to paint and make it his life. That urge to draw and paint has, from his earliest memory, been important to him but it took a while before he made it his career. The 1960s was a different world, with only a handful of artists able to exist through their endeavours, so Tim started his working life in the professions, becoming a qualified land agent in 1969. The dreamy illusion that it would prove an adequate substitute to owning a country estate faded quickly and reality soon kicked in.
With the deep urge to paint consuming him, he took up a new career as a full-time painter in 1984. Some thought it a 'brave move' but most considered it foolhardy for someone with three young children, a dog and a mortgage.
He has not regretted it for a moment.