Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Seeking a young artist to feature as part of their Art in the Library showcase, the staff at the County of Lennox and Addington County Library didn’t have to look too far.
They had a perfect candidate right in front of them in Kiara Scott, who also happens to be a library page. As luck would have it Scott mentioned in passing that she one of three NDSS students who would be displaying her work at Newburgh’s Art Among the Ruins. That made Napanee branch manager Marg Wood’s ears perk up, and she encouraged Scott to submit her work for the next library showcase.
From there she was selected as the first teen to be included in the showcase, with her artwork now on display through the rest of the summer.
“We’ve been doing this for three years through the Greater Napanee and Area Arts Association,” explained Wood of the art showcase. “This is the next step to it. In the fall we’re going to introduce a junior edition. Little kids’ art is going to be displayed in the lower level, then we’ll have all the bases covered.”
Scott, who just recently turned 18, has been developing her art style for quite sometime.
“It’s been pretty constant in my life,” Scott said of art. “But I’ve been starting to do it more seriously since I got into high school.”
“It’s been described as abstract,” she said of her style. “I usually just go to whatever I feel like. It’s very rare that I do realistic. I’d say abstract and cartoony.”
Often times her finished work is a lot different than what she originally set out to create.
“Sometimes I’m like, I want to paint an emotion or I want to paint a theme,” Scott said. “Other times it’s ‘I’m going to do this’ and I end up way over here. The John Wick painting I have was done a bit differently. It’s a style where you project it and then you go from there and you paint it and shade it and you work on Photoshop too. I tried to do that for the big abstract painting Tick Tock, and I outlined the girl, then I just went crazy.”
As they do with all their featured artists, the library will host a ‘meet the artist’ event, July 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the library.
Scott’s paintings will be on display at the upper level of the Napanee branch for three months, at which point another library page, Shelby Miller, will be featured.
Wood says she hopes more teens will follow suit and consider having their work featured as part of their showcase.
Artists that display their work can also choose to list their artwork for sale if they so choose.
Along with Scott’s works, the library also has members of the GNAAA currently on display.
The Napanee branch is located at 25 River Road.