New Jolomo exhibition all at sea

ONE of Scotland's best-loved artists revealed the sea is “in his blood” at the opening of a new exhibition.

John Lowrie Morrison, known as Jolomo, says Morrison & The Sea – The Rocks – The Cliffs, which is at the Strathearn Gallery in Crieff until June 2, explores deep family connections with the sea and the coast.

While Morrison is best known for his landscape paintings, which are snapped up by collectors around the world, he said recent discoveries about his family history help explain his obsession with the sea. He said: “Last year, a Morrison cousin got in touch to tell me that he had been going through records and had discovered that my great-grandfather, Murdoch Morrison, was a lighthouse keeper's assistant.

“He worked in lighthouses all over Scotland in the 1860s. I couldn't believe it! No wonder I love lighthouses and have been painting them all my life.

“I remember playing as a child in Tighnabruaich's wee Eilean Dubh lighthouse, and later on I took a trip on a fast rib to the Bell Rock Lighthouse near Arbroath. I've always loved them. My father's family is from the Isle of Harris and my dad spent time working on fishing boats in the Minch, so I grew up listening to great stories about Hebridean fishermen. No wonder I love to paint the sea – I have it in my blood!”

Fifty new paintings in the exhibition celebrate the sea in all its moods, from waves crashing on the cliffs at Mangersta in Lewis and the famously wild waters of the Gauldrons, Machrihanish, to calmer seas lapping the beaches of Iona and Tiree.