Glasgow
While deputy leader of the Scottish National Orchestra, I spent as much of my time first painting portraits of my fellow musicians and later getting to know the amazing character of Glasgow, with its tenements, docks, ferries and trams.
Mysteriously, I succeeded in not being late for a single rehearsal or concert. Only my hands revealed the occasional sign of artistic activity, with a splash of sun red or tar burner black visible. I was in Glasgow to see the demise of the last tram in 1964 and I remember recording that sad event in the Scottish Field. Sufficient to say that for me they were special creatures and it was through painting them in the rain, lurching on the hills and around corners, that I made my name in Glasgow.
