Builder finds an audience for his art at San Francisco museum

“Nice tattoo art.”

That’s what Scott Wright said he was told by Prospect Street gallery owners when he showed them samples of his work, the same work that was recently purchased by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Wright, 53, has lived in La Jolla for more than 30 years with his wife and seven children. He owns The Wright Company, a construction company that builds homes. His firm was voted best local construction company in the La Jolla Light annual readers poll a couple of years ago.

As his 50th birthday approached, Wright felt he needed a diversion to relax and distract himself from the intense pace at which he worked. He enjoyed art in the past, so he picked up a pencil and started drawing.

“It’s the most healing, clearing-of-my-mind thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Wright said. “It’s just been so beneficial to me. I’m as passionate about my art as I am about anything. I have the time now because the kids are at the age that I’m not at the tee-ball games and all the stuff that I used to have to be at. And so I have spare time on my hands, and art was a beautiful way to express it.”

Wright’s original pencil and ink drawings focus on aquatic and whimsical themes: psychedelic fish, mermaids and tidal drifts of seaweed. His colors are strong and earthy, the blues of sky and ocean, red, orange and purple jewel tones, with everything magnified to capture a bit of the fantastic. His designs are constructed with