Bob Abayomi Scott
Bob Abayomi Scott, born Robert Scott in Pittsburgh in 1948, is an artist and longtime educator whose practice is grounded in drawing, sculpture, and craft. One of fourteen children, Scott developed an early passion for drawing that became the foundation of his artistic life.
His formal education began at the Community College of Allegheny County, where he earned an associate degree in commercial art. He continued his studies at Carnegie Mellon University, receiving a BFA in Sculpture and Crafts in 1974, followed by a Master of Education in Art Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1977. This combination of studio training and education shaped a career devoted equally to making art and teaching it.
After moving to Philadelphia, Scott taught high school art for thirty-three years, first in Radnor and later in Norristown, Pennsylvania. His work as an educator developed alongside his independent practice, placing technical discipline, close observation, and sustained creative inquiry at the center of both.
Scott has presented his work in juried exhibitions, solo shows, and group exhibitions across Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Virginia. Although his education encompasses several disciplines, drawing remains his point of origin. It provides the structure through which he studies form and translates familiar subjects into more expansive visual experiences.
Flowers have become particularly significant within this process. By enlarging them beyond their ordinary scale, Scott approaches natural form as a subject of sustained attention rather than decoration. The shift in proportion allows delicacy, structure, and presence to emerge with greater force. As he writes, “Bringing a flower to life on a large scale will continue life’s journey in search of inner truth.”
For Scott, the image of the flower connects observation with introspection. Its enlargement transforms a recognizable natural form into a space for reflection, extending the early discipline of drawing into an ongoing search for meaning.
