R. Scott Pease (b.1954)
Liquid Gold, 2002
Materials: Digital Photograph, Epson Premium Luster Print, 20” x 30”
Location at Summa Health: Akron Campus, Main Building (141 N. Forge St.), Gold Neighborhood, Ground Floor near "E" Elevators
This work was acquired for the Summa Health System — Akron Campus Wayfinding Project.
About the Art
Liquid Gold captures a striking moment from the natural world — a digital photograph of fallen cottonwood leaves, floating on what appears to be molten metal. This captivating image was taken in Zion National Park, near Springdale, Utah, where photographer Scott Pease often finds inspiration in the raw beauty of “wild places” in the landscape. These environments inspire him to tell stories through his photographs, which he begins while exploring and completes through digital manipulation.
The golden hue in this photograph is the result of the setting sun reflecting into a small pool of water along the “Narrows” of the Virgin River. Pease explains that the cottonwood leaves, which have already shed their vibrant fall gold, now appear faded. Yet, on the surface of the water, the leaves generate blue-black haloes, creating delicate auras of movement and multiple contours. The submerged leaf stems trace pale gold arcs, their simplicity offering a striking contrast to the more complex outlines of the curled, sometimes broken leaves. This moment, frozen in time, invites a meditative focus, drawing viewers into a careful reflection on nature's intricate, transient beauty.
Through selective framing and thoughtful adjustments to features such as hue and saturation, Pease has organized the elements of the image to convey his original vision, offering a peaceful, contemplative moment for those who encounter it within the Gold Neighborhood of the Akron Campus.
Low Tide (Sunrise at Brandon Beach, Oregon), 2014
Materials: Digital Photograph, Printed on Acrylic, 48" x 36"
Location at Summa: Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, Second Floor, Southwest Hallway, on the Wall Between Offices P3 and P4
About the Art
The Oregon Coast is home to some of nature's most striking and evocative landscapes, where rugged rock formations, the vast sea, and the sky merge in captivating ways. Low Tide (Sunrise at Brandon Beach, Oregon) is a powerful digital photograph that captures one such scene. Printed on metallic paper, the image highlights the gleaming sheen and rich textures of the landscape, from the sharp reflections of clouds in the mirror-like pools left by the receding tide to the craggy rocks strewn across the beach.
Photographer R. Scott Pease has carefully chosen the moment to showcase the contrast between these reflective pools and the velvety texture of the sand. The result is an irresistible interplay of elements, where the cool blue of the sky and the vivid orange of a sunlit rock—positioned just left of center—create a moment frozen in time. The rock, bathed in the first rays of the rising sun, anchors the composition, drawing us in.
In this quiet yet dramatic scene, Pease invites us to orient ourselves within the space, to consider how nature, like the tides, is constantly shifting. The photograph encourages a sense of grounding, much like the rock in the foreground, in a world where change is inevitable but beautiful, just as it is at this very moment on the Oregon coast.
This work, placed within the Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, offers a tranquil and contemplative pause for those who experience it, inviting reflection on the beauty and constancy of nature's rhythms.
Poplar Leaves on Water (Zion National Park, Utah), 2014
Materials: Digital Photograph, Printed on Acrylic, 48" x 36"
Location at Summa: Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, End of North Hallway on Second Floor South
About the Art
At first glance, this striking digital image challenges the viewer to pause and examine its intricacies. The poplar leaves, subtly hinted at in the title, are not immediately recognizable. Instead, the eye is drawn to the abstract interplay of deep blues and shimmering golds that evoke molten forms, as though the leaves and water have merged into something entirely new. Printed on acrylic, the image amplifies the metallic quality of the negative spaces between the leaves, and the small pools of water that collect atop them, transforming these elements into a captivating visual puzzle.
To fully appreciate the image, one might need to squint, drawing the eye to the delicate balance between abstraction and nature. The desiccated, flattened shapes of the poplar leaves—yellowed and browned with age—are subtly contrasted by their pale, almost-white veins and jagged, saw-toothed edges. These natural elements ground the image, inviting the viewer to recognize the foliage’s origins, even as the rest of the composition takes on a more abstract, ethereal quality. The photograph seems to float between realism and abstraction, inviting us to contemplate both the natural and the constructed.
The work explores a delicate contrast: the solid, organic form of the leaves against the shifting, fluid spaces of the pools of water that surround them. Photographer R. Scott Pease has amplified these contrasts, magnifying the forms to make a substantial visual statement. We are drawn to the golden glow around the edges of the leaves and the faint contours of a leaf or stem just below the water’s surface, which assert themselves amidst the more fluid, abstract shapes.
This genre—neither purely still life nor landscape, but something in between—invites a deeper reflection on nature’s beauty and its transformation through the artist's lens. It’s a genre that is seen in the work of several Summa Health Collection artists, offering the viewer a space for contemplation and an opportunity to distill the image into a series of stages. The title, referencing Zion National Park, provides the option to situate the viewer's experience within a specific place and time, enhancing the work's sense of place and the season it captures.
Displayed in the Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, this piece offers a quiet moment of reflection, where abstraction and nature converge to create a meditative visual experience.
Sunset over the Allegheny Plateau, 2019
Materials: Digital Photograph, Printed on Acrylic, 40" x 60"
Location at Summa: Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, Second Floor North, Middle Hallway, Outside Office P10
About the Art
The Allegheny Mountains have long inspired photographers with their timeless beauty, with their weathered slopes fading into the distance. In Sunset over the Allegheny Plateau, R. Scott Pease captures the tranquil essence of this iconic landscape. The photograph leads the viewer’s eye from the foreground through a series of gentle inclines that converge on the plateau at the image’s horizontal center. Beyond the plateau, a faint silhouette of another mountain range stretches across the horizon, softened by atmospheric distance. Dominating the scene, however, is a dramatic formation of clouds, their steep masses casting a shadow over the more peaceful, rolling slopes beneath them.
The scene is framed in the foreground by dark, almost-black silhouettes of foliage, providing a sense of scale and grounding the composition. Pease avoids a more conventional, vivid sunset portrayal, opting instead for the soft, muted pinks and oranges that linger in the sky. These gentle hues are the last traces of the sun's journey across the sky, creating a meditative and serene mood.
The framing of the trees, while preventing us from fully entering the vista, invites us to contemplate the quiet majesty of the landscape. The repeated forms of the mountains and the smooth gradation of tones in the photograph encourage a deep, reflective calm. This piece, displayed in the Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion, offers a peaceful moment of pause for those who encounter it, inviting the viewer to lose themselves in the tranquil beauty of nature, captured through Pease's thoughtful lens.
About the Artist
R. Scott Pease is a distinguished photographer based in Aurora, Ohio, with a career that spans several decades. His expertise lies in capturing the intricate details of landscapes, architectural exteriors and interiors, and various commercial products for engineers, architects, designers, and a diverse array of businesses. Pease graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Photo Illustration and Commercial Photography, laying the foundation for a career that began at American Greetings.
In the years that followed, he established his own commercial photography studio in Cleveland, where he took on a wide variety of projects. His portfolio includes everything from architectural photography and food styling to portraits, industrial equipment, and expansive landscapes. More recently, Pease has expanded his skill set to include aerial photography, having earned licensure to operate a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (sUAV), or drone. This new dimension of his work allows him to bring the same meticulous attention to composition and color that defines his ground-based photography to the sky.
Pease's work is showcased on his website, where visitors can explore both his commercial and landscape photography portfolios. The site also links to his blog, where he shares insights into the processes and creative decisions behind some of his most impactful commercial projects. With a career that has taken him across the U.S., Pease has documented a wide range of subjects, including public architecture for healthcare institutions, higher education facilities, and sports programs, as well as domestic and landscape architecture and major landscape renovations.
Pease’s unique blend of technical expertise and artistic vision continues to enrich the visual landscape of the spaces he documents, including his striking contributions to Summa Health.