Living the dream

Ever dreamt of throwing in your job to become a fulltime artist? Scott Ireland has been living that life for almost 30 years. 

He had a good role model: his father, Howard Ireland, the successful landscape artist. Father and son often painted together, learning from each other, exhibiting widely and frequently winning art prizes.

Scott lives in Port Stephens, a location that combines his love of art with his love of the sea. That sounds a little Hemingway! Oils are his favourite medium and his constant muses are the local beaches including Fingal Bay, Shoal Bay and the iconic Tomaree Headland. He also paints the waterways of Newcastle and Sydney, his old hometown.

His impressionistic seascapes are luminous, gleaming with crisp colours and beautiful light. But it's the people swimming and fishing or sunbaking on the sand that I find magical, each one crafted with a deft hand and a tiny palette knife.

So is life as an artist all it's cracked up to be? Scott wouldn't swap it but says it's not all plain sailing. You need self discipline as whole days can disappear on a rocky outcrop or the bows of a boat. And you have to be comfortable riding the financial highs and lows of the artistic life.

Will you leap?