01 Marine Painting - With Footnotes, #198

John Lowrie Morrison OBE (born 1948, Maryhill, Glasgow)

PUFFER ON THE CRINAN CANAL, c. 1999

Oil on board 

59cm x 58cm (23in x 22.75in)

Private collection

The Clyde puffer is a type of small coal-fired and single-masted cargo ship, built mainly on the Forth and Clyde canal, and which provided a vital supply link around the west coast and Hebrides of Scotland.

Characteristically these boats had bluff bows, crew's quarters with table and cooking stove in the focsle, and a single mast with derrick in front of the large hold, aft of which the funnel and ship's wheel stood above the engine room while the captain had a small cabin in the stern. When publication of the Vital Spark stories began in 1905 the ship's wheel was still in the open, but later a wheelhouse was added aft of the funnel giving the puffers their distinctive image. Their flat bottom allowed them to beach and unload at low tide, essential to supply remote settlements without suitable piers. Typical cargoes could include coal and furniture, with farm produce and gravel sometimes being brought back. More on The Clyde puffer

The Crinan Canal was built to provide a short cut for commercial sailing and fishing vessels and later Clyde puffers to travel between the industrialised region around Glasgow to the West Highland villages and islands. It was designed by civil engineer John Rennie and work started in 1794, but was not completed until 1801, two years later than planned. More on The Crinan Canal

John Lowrie Morrison OBE (born 1948, Maryhill, Glasgow), known as Jolomo, is a Scottish contemporary artist, producing expressionist oil paintings of Scottish landscapes.

He became interested in art at an early age. He attended Glasgow School of Art, from 1967 to 1971. He was forced to make a choice between making abstract designs for fashion and landscape painting and chose the latter. While his classmates favoured pop art and abstraction, he developed an expressionist style, influenced by artists such as Kokoschka, Chagall and Soutine.

He taught art for more than twenty years at Lochgilphead High School, appointed along the way as art adviser for Strathclyde, and only became a full-time artist in 1996. He was awarded an honorary degree by Abertay University in 2009  and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to art and charity in Scotland.

Morrison produces about 100 paintings per month, completing three or four per day, six days a week. They sell very quickly. As well as local buyers, he is patronised by celebrities such as Sting, Madonna, Simon Le Bon, Sophia Loren, Chris Patten and Rick Stein. His work is considered by some to be gaudy, while others describe it as unusual and vivid.

He completes the majority of his paintings in his studio, based on sketches and photographs. He also researches the history, folklore and geology of a place. More on John Lowrie Morrison

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, and 365 Saints, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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