Dr. Scott T. Spencer, DD, ThD, PhD
Biography
Born in Syracuse, New York (and raised in the small town of Horseheads, New York), Scott was identified for his artistic ability at an early age. Throughout his entire school career, Scott was placed in accelerated art classes, becoming accustomed to working with all types of artistic media, including, but not limited to, water color, oil, and acrylic paints, pastels, charcoal, and of course, pencil. Scott became the most accomplished with his pencil works, and by the time he graduated from High School, his entire portfolio was centered around them. In 1995, at the age of 17, he completed "Niagara Falls", which became his first widely recognized work, earning him a full collegiate scholarship. Electing to go a different route, however, Scott gave up his scholarship to art school in order to enlist in the United States Navy, where he served his country with honor over the next several years.
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Shortly after getting out of the Navy, Scott got involved in the roofing and construction industry while attending college. It wasn't long before Scott began falling in love with the artistic elements of classical architecture, and he carried his abilities as an artist into the construction arena. Scott become a master craftsman of roofing and decorative sheet metal and copper work, and has been involved in several very high profile historical roofing and construction remodels - such as the world famous "McGraw Hall" at Cornell University, the restoration of (and addition to) the LDS Church located on the Peter Whitmer farm in Fayette, New York (the site of the formation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints), and the historical landmark "The Ritz Carriage House" in Elmira New York. Scott was also a master of the ancient and decorative art of slate roofing (as well as many other types of roofing), and was personally in charge of many highly complex and decorative roofing and construction projects on more than 30 high profile churches and historical buildings in the North-East United States, in addition to many hundreds of other buildings as well.
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Scott's many interests in life carried him far beyond the artistic or constructions arenas. A practicing Christian - Scott's experiences while serving on active duty in the United States Navy led him to become a deeply religious man. He attended Bible College for several years at Bible Baptist Institute (Horseheads, NY), as well as being enrolled at Baptist Bible College (Springfield, MO.), Christian Leaders Institute (Spring Lake, MI), Missionary Chapel and Seminary (Hemet, CA), and Saint Luke Evangelical School of Biblical Studies (Dearing, GA). Scott has a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies, as well as a Bachelor of Theology; Masters degrees in both Theology and Divinity; a PhD in Biblical Studies; Doctor of Theology; and Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa). Scott was ordained into the Christian ministry in May of 2020 by Saint Luke Evangelical Christian Ministries, and is currently serving as the Senior Pastor of the Sword & Trowel Revival Fellowship (located in Bath, NY).
An athletic and competitive person by nature in his youth - Scott's hobbies in his free time were heavily centered around body building, extreme sports, scuba diving, mountain climbing, kayaking, baseball, volleyball, and Martial Arts. Scott has two black belts (in the Korean Martial Arts of Tae-Kwon-Do and Hap-Ki-Do), and even headed up a community outreach martial arts ministry for several years. Throughout his life, Scott balanced his career with his home and family life - all the while never ceasing to continue working as an artist. Most of Scott's works during this time were either given away as gifts, or donated for good causes.
All of that came to an end in April of 2018, when Scott suffered a massive Cellulitis infection resulting from a cut he received on his right hand while working for his construction company. The infection moved quickly throughout his body, and in only two days, he was in danger of losing his life. As the infection spread, it penetrated deep into the tendons and nerves of Scott's hand, and started moving into his blood stream. Scott's hand and forearm looked "bright red" in color, his hand swollen up like a balloon, and five distinguishable "red lines" were able to be seen in the veins of his arm, traveling up into his armpit before disappearing. Scott was admitted at the Emergency Room of Ira Davenport Hospital (in Bath, NY), and there transferred to Arnot Ogden Medical Center (in Elmira, NY), where he was placed on several different types of antibiotics to combat the infection; but more "aggressive" options were also considered - such as surgery to remove the "infected areas" from his hand, as well as possible amputation of his hand - possibly including his forearm. The possibility of the infection moving into his blood stream and causing his body to become septic was also discussed - and with the chance of him not making it through, Scott began to think very seriously about his life - the decisions he had made, what he had left behind for his family, and what "legacy" would he be remembered for after he was gone.
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By the grace of God, however, the antibiotics began to work, and after a weeks stay in the hospital, the infection was finally eradicated from Scott's body. The damage was done to Scott's hand, however, and the infection had left it almost completely immobilized, and extremely painful to move in the slightest degree. Scott began both physical and occupational therapy on his hand to teach himself to use it again; and after several months, was able to regain partial mobility. Unfortunately for Scott, even though the mobility in his hand was improving, the pain he suffered in it did not. As he continued to see doctors and specialists for his condition, Scott was eventually diagnosed with both Peripheral Nephropathy and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in his hand, resulting from the Cellulitis infection. Scott was forced to stop doing construction work, and almost all physical activities with his right hand in general - leaving him disabled and without a career.
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It was around this time that Scott came across a quote by the cartoonist, Jim Davis (creator of Garfield), which said, "There are so many opportunities in life, that the loss of two or three capabilities is not necessary debilitating. A handicap can give you the opportunity to focus on art, writing, or music". Scott decided to put that thought to the test, and once again began to draw. It was then that he made a miraculous discovery - that despite the physical impairment he now suffered with, he had not lost any of his artistic ability! Granted, it was now painful to do (and he couldn't draw for very long periods of time, and he had to take a lot of breaks) - but the physical ability was still there! With renewed hope, Scott decided to use his disability as the motivation he needed to fulfill a dream he had always had, but never anticipated coming to fruition - that was, the opening of his own art studio.
In January of 2019, Scott formally opened "Caledonia Studio Artis, Ltd." - which is the Latin translation of "Scotland Art Studio". He chose the name because the word "Scotland" literally means, "land of the Scots" - which is both a play on his name, and an homage to his Scottish ancestry. The word, "Caledonia", instantly brings to mind images of Celtic romanticism; and any true collector of fine art can tell you that the love of art is a romance all in itself.
Scott currently lives in upstate New York, in the town of Bath, along with his wife, Samantha. Scott and Samantha have a combined total of Nine children - Four of which live at home with them, two currently attending college, and another serving in the United States Navy. When Scott is not busy with the church, or working on a commissioned work of art, his hobbies in life include reading classical literature, studying history, and antique collecting. Scott and Samantha are very family oriented, and do their best to keep their lives centered around their faith, and their family.