Scott Addis
Images are sample works. Call or visit OA Gallery for availability.
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The chances that a boy raised in poverty would some-day succeed as a fine artist seems as remote as the little town that boy was raised in was from the City. Born and raised in Southwestern Pennsylvania – coal country – about an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh – Scott spent countless hours drawing and dreaming of the time he might one day get to attend a four year art school - something that would never happen. His father was a yard foreman on the B&O Railroad who became disabled after workplace accident. Two years later his mom was diagnosed with Cancer – her treatment leaving the family practically bankrupt. Money tight, Scott enlisted in the US Navy, got an education, a chance to travel and after an honorable discharge moved to Cincinnati Ohio where he lived and worked and eventually started a construction business.
Over time, that business morphed from general construction to a house painting business. Three years later, it would morph again. While painting a house for the 1998 Homearama, (a regional luxury home show and sale) in the age of murals and faux finishes, the muralist quit the job. The designer, desperate, asked Scott if he might be able to do something in the master bathroom. His decorative painting and her design won a national award. Eager to learn more about decorative painting Scott took a class on glazing techniques from a paint manufacturer and received tutoring from a local artist on how to paint murals. He received more orders for murals and honed his skills by painting a bunch of plein air paintings outside directly in nature. They piled up – and he eventually had a bunch framed – held a little reception at a local coffee house for his housepainting clients. The show sold out. It was a complete success. He invited a local gallery to view the works as well, was invited to show his work there, and eventually would have another solo show where he would meet his future Canadian wife, Lucie. About a year later, he stopped painting houses and murals as his little “studies” started selling well enough and regularly enough to stop his “day job”. He would never live his dream of attending a full-time art school. Instead that dream was replaced by the reality that he was a full time working artist. Scott’s work has taken him far away from his father’s Pennsylvania roots, further still from his mom’s Missouri roots, landing him in Montreal Quebec. His work has won awards, is in prestigious corporate collections including The Government of Canada, Indiana University and Springfield Ohio’s Fine Art Museum. He’s been featured on television and radio and his work has been featured in art magazines both in the US and Canada. He is still married and lives in Montreal with his wife and three children. |
