lan was born in Dunoon Argyll and brought up in the village of Clachaig in the hills of Cowal.
He trained in Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art in the nineteen sixties under William Armour and David Donaldson and was awarded the Newbery Medal a Post Diploma Scholarship and Landscape Scholarship from the Royal Academy.
A career in education followed - Teacher of Art Rothesay Academy - Principal Teacher of Art Dunoon Grammar - moving from the Isle of Bute to Perth in 1978 to become Adviser in Art and Design Education for Tayside Regional Council a post he held till 1996. He has been paint-ing full time since.
A plein air painter lan is best known for his seascapes and shore studies from the Isle of Bute nd landscapes of the area around Colenden in Perthshire where he lives.
Plein air painting in this day and age is undoubtably an old fashioned activity. Set against the fast moving instantly interconnected world that is contemporary life and circumstances it seems out of its time.
The tradition stretches all the way back to the early nineteenth century. I am however happy to be considered part of that inheritance. Growing up in the hills of Cowal and living ten years on Bute as a young teacher established a lifetime's practice of painting out of doors.
Experiencing the experience is for me the essential thing - however overstated this may sound. I enjoy the communion with nature.
The paint-ings are a response - they single out particular aspects of place weather or times of day. Some have a degree of topographical detail others veer towards abstraction dictated by what is felt and observed. The works are mainly in acrylic on board and watercolours (occasionally watercolour and Indian ink). I do not use any acrylic extenders or varnish only water as my medium preferring the quiet layering and matt finish this allows.
