George Wyllie- Scotland's most popular sculptor

I have long been admirer of George Wyllie, Scotland’s most popular Sculptor  (1921-2012).
 
His work was witty, accessible and popular with the public yet it had s serious message too.
 
This self taught artist had an unlikely background- engineer followed by years as a Custom & Excise Officer before he decided in his mid-50s to throw himself into his lifelong ambition to be an artist, something he did with great success achieving international acclaim and a MBE though the art establishment were sniffy about his work for many years because he did not have a traditional art college background and – sigh! - he was popular with the public.
 
 
Most people remember him as the man who created a 
straw locomotive, a poignant reminder of Glasgow great industrial heritage.
 
Another reminder of Glasgow’s shipbuilding past was the 
paper boat he built and sailed into New York harbour,
 
And this weekend a new exhibition of his work opened in the Park gallery, Falkirk.
 
So I popped along this afternoon to see it and met arts journalist Jan Patience (photo) who collaborated with George’s daughter, Louise to write a book on his life: Arrivals & Sailings: The Making of George Wyllie. (Published mid-April).