As artistic lineages go, Belinda Gilbert Scott's is both impressive and daunting. Her father designed the prestigious Guildhall Art Gallery in London while her grandfather was responsible for a plethora of important buildings including Battersea and Bankside power stations in London, Oban and Liverpool cathedrals, and the iconic red telephone box. Her great, great grandfather was behind some of the University of Glasgow's buildings and St Pancras Station, London. But, far from over-awed, Gilbert Scott is sketching out her own creative path.
Growing up, she says, her family's architectural and artistic accomplishments were rarely mentioned at home. ''It is in my blood,'' she says. ''But it was never pushed or talked about much in the family. My parents are very modest and it wasn't something they went around shouting about.''
The 40-year-old artist, who began a series of paintings from the top of the tower at the Glasgow Science Centre in February, is set to showcase what will be only her second major exhibition. It has been a long time coming. ''I am very critical about my work and want the standard to be very high,'' she says. ''I haven't wanted to exhibit before because I never felt my work was ready to show.''
Gilbert Scott, who is based in a static caravan in Balfron, Stirlingshire, spent a year at the now demolished Meadowside Granary in Glasgow, capturing the countless variations of seasonal light through a gap between two buildings. She started a series of paintings of the Clyde from the roof of the building but, when it was pulled down, she decided the tower at the Glasgow Science Centre would be the ideal vantage point to continue her work.
She professes to a fascination for ships and is keen to do a series of paintings within one of the Clyde's many disused dockyards.
But her quest for perfection will endure. ''There is luminosity I'm trying to achieve in my paintings,'' she says. ''The artist Samuel Palmer once talked about wanting his work to glow in dark corners. I feel much the same. I don't want it to shout. I want it to glow.'' n
Birds I View by Belinda Gilbert Scott will be on show at Linthouse Urban Village (LUV), Govan, Glasgow, as part of the Block Architecture Festival, from Monday until October 15. Gilbert Scott will give a talk about her work at LUV on Tuesday at 6pm. For more information, call 0141 445 5100.
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