Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott McDuffee.
Hi Scott , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My art journey started, or restarted, quite by accident. My daughters brought me to one of these “paint and drink” places and we did just that. After painting the Mackinaw Bridge, Big Mac, the instructor remarked she didn’t realize there was a real artist in the group. This flattery, along with some latent creativity from my childhood, inspired me to dig into this hidden talent potential. At about the same time, I began traveling to Asheville, NC monthly for my corporate strategy, problem-solving, and people development role. Asheville was ripe with an art scene, intriguing nature, and food culture; basically, all of the things that thrilled me. Through this exploration, I realized my interest and intrigue for abstract expressionism which I not only appreciated but began to follow the colorful artists and study the history of the “New York School”. In fact, I decided my budding art interests could not possibly encompass all the art -isms, so I decided to focus on Abstract Expressionism. This included learning from an Asheville mentor, hours of YouTube videos, a Museum of Modern Art online course, as well as workshops in Hamtramck, Sedona, and Austin. Like I do with rapid improvement events in my corporate life, I tested the water with both feet. I jumped in. My little dining table studio, surrounded by plastic and cardboard, grew into a factory space, then a studio apartment turned into a studio / gallery, and even spilled out into parks and performance spaces.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I battle with, and more often lately embrace, a neuro-spicy mind which does well under deadlines (like a near distant art exhibit opening) but doesn’t always serve me well for regularly paced studio time and orthodox art practices for producing and promoting art. This leads to feast and famine phases where I am either a flow of a ton of art, or barely a trickle. The more I learn about my how my brain functions, the more I have the ability to put the necessary constraints on my time to thrive. My best work seems to come when I am pulling all-nighters, dancing as I go, not letting my intellect get in the way of channeling whatever magic in the universe seems to pour out in intuitive abstract gestures and flow. I am not just my own worst enemy (as it seems at times when I am unable to get in motion); I am also the gatekeeper to my energetic flow! The keys are time and interest and I’m sure many aspects which are still a mystery to me. But sometimes it just clicks! I get into a very present state of creation. From nothing comes something, and magic ensues, and dare I say – masterpieces.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I really have two lives, at least two aspects. One is very corporate. The other is very creative. Both include innovation, creativity, problem-solving, process focus, being in the present, and even collaboration, at their best. In my creative life, this mostly means abstract expressions on large canvases with expressive gestures and evocative colors. My canvases have an infusion of the urban and industrial influences from my life experiences (traveling to factories around much of the world facilitating improvements and developing people). My work is easily recognized for its playfulness, exuberance, and unorthodox tool use which has a distinct vocabulary of shapes and movements. Like many of the Abstract Expressionists, I reveal rather than hide the process. Drips, swipes, scratches, strokes, divots, splashes, smudges, and the scraping away using hardware are all quite evident. I embrace the process. My work displays the process.
What were you like growing up?
I was an awkward kid. Imaginary worlds from which bubbled up poetry and cartoons. Never felt like I fit in. Loner. Deep thinking. Over thinker. Learned to mask behaviors to fit-in. Eventually became very good at this to the point of being strong at reading social queues, and people dynamics, and have become a recognized facilitator and public speaker. I still process internally and need quiet time alone, but I guess to the world I seem to be an expressive extrovert now. My art is an extension of this, wanting to be seen, wanting to make a difference, wanting my voice to be heard, and seen. It is also important to me to inspire reinvention, creativity, collaboration, and a colorful life for others. Today my life, and my art, is a bold abstract expression.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://scottmcduffee.art
- Instagram: @scott_mcduffee
- Facebook: scott.mcduffee.12
- LinkedIn: scottamcduffee
