My work has always been about color and light.
Its’ effect on our emotions, how it inspires passion, offers peace, feeds the soul, calms the mind.
I take what I see in nature and the landscape. Painting the effects of light, light creates, light also destroys.
In nature there is order and beauty, there is also chaos. In most of my work I focus on the brilliance of nature along with hints of decay.
It’s how we survive life, to focus on hope and beauty as the destruction and chaos goes on around us in our daily lives.

Abstract fields of rich colors, layers upon layers of transparent glazes add depth and mystery.
Scraping and scarring give the effect of change, time and weather.
The play of light, to the glow of a sunset, is important in my work.
To get to that emotional impact that color and light has on us.

At times my work gets complicated, color on color in a composition of metal leaf and texture.
To tranquil times of quite washes pushed back with opaque layers of paint.
Closing away everything else on the canvas, but scatter spots of color coming through to remind you that there is more going on than just what is on the surface.
Creating a calm moment to reflect on what has been hidden from view.

Scott Upton

“this Atlanta and North Carolina painter’s multilayered technique that mixes acrylic paint with concealed reflective textures including silver and gold leaf,
all sealed under a varnish of his own devising. Upton’s determined innovation in depth and surface distinguishes him from his sources,
which include the late work of Mark Rothko but combine many other atmospheric abstractionists.
Jerry Cullum
TheAtlanta Journal-Constitution

“Light matters.The Atlanta artist excels at suggesting it on canvases that can glow.
At times, he uses reflective material to enhance the affect. And while he does abstract paintings, some of these works more than suggest realism, with a horizon line here, a sky there – even the hint of buildings.
There’s also the influence of the great 19th –century English landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, who took a very solid world and, with color and form, de-materialized it.
Richard Maschal
Charlotte Observer

Scott’s work is an abstraction of specific events and subject matter gathered from his own life. Using bold color to express himself forcibly, Scott works with complementary colors and vibrations of kindred tones and titles that intermingle with the subject.

”When I began a painting, I have an idea of what I am going for and I work fast and strong. As the painting evolves, I pull back and let the direction of the painting determine the out come. By giving way to the painting, it stays fresh and responsive.”
Scott Upton

New works of mixed media paintings, feature texture, metal leaf along with a process of scaring and tearing away.
There is an expression of maturity along with the playfulness and excitement to let things happen.



Gallery & Exhibitions History

Blue Spiral 1, Asheville NC 1990-2010
Center of the Earth Gallery, Charlotte NC 2003-2010
Summit One Gallery, Highlands NC 2004-2010
Flanders Art Gallery, Raleigh NC 2007-2010
The Gallery at Laws, Knoxville TN 2010
Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta GA 2009-2010
Studio E Gallery, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 2010
Tripolo Gallery, Covington, LA 2010
Broadhurst Gallery, Pinehurst, NC 2008-2010
New Morning Gallery, NC 2008-2010
Lyons View Gallery, Knoxville TN 2007-2009
The Umstead Hotel and Spa, Cary, NC 2008-2009
Gallery NU, Covington, LA 2008-2009
Gallery NU, Sandestin, FL 2008-2009
The Lowe Gallery, Atlanta GA 2006-2008
The Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica CA 2007-2008
Carol Saunders Gallery, Columbia SC 1998-2008
Bickett Gallery at Hudson, Raleigh NC 2007
The Upstairs Art Space, Tryon NC 2007
Gallery Sklo, Atlanta GA 2004-2006
Art to Market, Atlanta GA 2003-2004
Space, Atlanta GA 2002-2004
Momus, Atlanta GA 2003
Beverly Libby Gallery, Atlanta GA 1998-2002
The Wells Gallery, Charleston SC 1994-2001
Windsor Gallery, FL 1994-1996
Hanson Art Source, TN 1992-1995
Southern Exposure, Atlanta GA 1990
New Morning Gallery, NC 1984-1996
Somerhill Gallery, Chapel Hill NC 1989
Somerhill Gallery, Durham NC 1984-1989
Designer House, Denver CO 1984
Henley Southern Spectrum, NC 1981-1988
Henley Travel Show, NC 1987
First Bank of Asheville, NC 1983
The Studio Café, NC 1983
Shelby Art League, NC 1982-1983
Asheville Art Museum, NC 1983
State Senator James McClure Clark, Asheville, NC 1982
Art on the Plaza, NC 1982
Artist Endeavors, NC 1982
The Portfolio, City of Biltmore, NC 1982
University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC 1983
Art Institute of Atlanta, GA 1977

Collections

Blackberry Farms, Walland, TN
T-Pain, Singer-Song Writer- Producer, Atlanta, GA
The Umstead Hotel and Spa, Cary, NC
O’Hare Hilton, Chicago, IL
Amelia Island Plantation, FL
The Breakers, Palm Beach FL
Eastman, Kingsport, TN
Lit Bow Wow, Atlanta GA
Arthur Blank Foundation, Atlanta GA
Crescent Capital Investments, Four Seasons Hotel, Atlanta GA
Armada Investment Group, Atlanta GA
Progress Energy, Corporate Collection, Durham NC
Source One Marketing, Atlanta GA
Northside Hospital, Atlanta GA
Mission Hospital, Asheville, NC
The Georgia Dome, Atlanta GA

Education

University of North Carolina at Asheville
1980-1984 Fine Arts
McDowell Technical College
1977-1979 Commercial Graphics
Art Institute of Atlanta
1976-1977 Visual Communications

Workshops

North Carolina Artist Tucker Cooke
North Carolina Artist Herb Jackson
New York Artist Dorothy Gillespie
New Horizons Computer Art
Encaustic, The Art School in Sandy Springs

Awards

Award of Excellence Paper Sources International
Award of Excellence Simpson Paper Company
Award of Excellence Zander Paper Company
Southeastern Abstract Artist Tour

Benefits

STAR - Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Ride 2008, 2010
EnAble of Georgia, Inc. enable.org 2009-2010
Art with Heart 2008-2009
Highland Cashiers Humane Society of NC 2004 -2007
The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy CMLC 2007
McNair Foundation 2006-2007
American Cancer Society 2005-2008
Hunter Museum of American Art 2007
Birmingham Museum of Art 2006
Knoxville Museum of Art 2005- 2008
Atlanta Opera 2003 - 2006
DIFFA, Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids 2003 - 2005
Project Open Hands 2000-2003
Alzheimer’s Association 1989-1993
The Charleston Low Country Aids Foundation 1994
Western North Carolina Aids Auction 1988-1994
Asheville Art Museum 1983-1988