Antarctic artist 2010/11: Dafila Scott

Dafila Scott joined HMS Scott in the Antarctic as the 2011 Friends' Artist in Residence.

Exhibition: The Edge of Beyond: Paintings from the Antarctic, 15 May - 30 June 2012

Dafila trained as a zoologist, before turning to drawing and painting in oils, watercolour and pastels. Much of her work is inspired by landscape. She is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists and has exhibited regularly at their annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, as well as at regional shows and at other galleries. She paints either from life or from a combination of field sketches and memory. She has taken courses with painters and art teachers and is especially grateful for the inspirational teaching of Robin Child at the Lydgate Art Research Centre.

The granddaughter of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, she already has Antarctic experience as the illustrator of a book on the region's wildlife. Of the opportunity to become the Friends of SPRI Artist in Residence, she says,

Antarctica is the last great wilderness and, since 1961 when the Antarctic Treaty came into being, it has been a great example of peaceful co-existence and collaboration among nations in the interests of science. The Scott Polar Research Institute has played an important part in the scientific work done in Antarctica and there is still much more to be done.

For me, the opportunity to go to Antarctica on the centenary of my grandfather's last expedition is amazing, and as an artist, I hope I can produce work which will bring the excitement and fascination of the place to a wider audience. I am very grateful to the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute, who are sponsoring this trip, and to the Royal Navy, in particular the Commanding Officer and crew of HMS Scott.

Recent work includes both figurative wildlife paintings and abstract landscapes inspired by visits to Wales and to the South African Kalahari. However, she is equally happy to gain inspiration at home in the garden or on the surrounding fenland. In 2003 she won the RSPB Fine Art Award and in 2008 she won the Abstract category of the Wildlife Artist of the Year competition.