James “J.P.” Scott

1922 -

James “J.P.” Scott was born in a small rural community of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. He only attended school until 6th grade. He claimed that as a child, he retrieved logs from the swamps and made things of them.  He worked various construction jobs in New Orleans and on commercial fishing boats which brought about his deep interest in boats.  In 1962, Scott began to shape scavenged materials into model boats like those he saw and worked on in local waterways; he also constructed French Quarter houses, oil rigs, and airplanes which he often initially displayed in his yard.  Scott created a basic form from cypress wood and discarded metal to which he adds Mardi Gras doubloons, scrap linoleum tile, auto reflectors, and toy flags. The finished forms are painted blue, white, orange, red, black, and sometimes green or yellow. ⁵