John Lowrie Morrison was born in Maryhill Glasgow in 1948. He schooled in Glasgow and studied art at Glasgow School of Art from 1967 -71 where he studied drawing and painting under Dan Ferguson, James Robertson, Duncan Shanks, Sandie Goudie and Geoff Squires.
In his final year he visited Switzerland where high colour first entered his palette, and then Paris to view the Chagall retrospective exhibition at the Grand Palais. Here he studied Chagall’s work and also that of Chaim Soutine, and in particular their use of the colour blue. This influence held with him as in his later years as a professional artist, the colour blue became a distinctive trademark of his work.
John went on to post graduate study again at Glasgow School of Art and gained a
Dip.Ed.Prim/Sec at Jordanhill College, Glasgow in 1973. He then moved to Argyll to teach at Lochgilphead High School as well as a number of Argyll Primary Schools.
He held his first solo show in 1976 which was a sell out, a position that has been a recurring theme ever since. In 1985 he began to sign his paintings “Jolomo” although the sobriquet had been invented by him during a Latin class at school in the early 60’s.
In 1978 he became an Art and Design Examiner with the Scottish Examination Board, and in 1984, Art and Design Staff Tutor for Argyll and Bute. In 1988 he became Principal Teacher of Art at Lochgilphead High School and joined the Higher Still Advisory Panel at the Scottish Office Edinburgh. In 1994 John became art Adviser to Strathclyde Regional Council.
He left Education in 1997 to become a full time artist and the following year held his first solo show in England at the Corrymella Scott Gallery, Newcastle. John regularly donates 5-10% of the sales of his paintings at exhibitions to charity in addition to the many paintings he donates to help charities with their fundraising.
The “Jolomo” solo shows are characteristically built around a theme and in recent years have been marked by Openings involving political dignatories and in 2005 the annual Jolomo exhibition in London was opened by HRH, The Princess Royal. In 2005 the Jolomo Foundation was established to promote and encourage the painting of the Scottish Landscape through the Jolomo Awards, a painting competition which is held biennially.
John’s painting is instantly recognisable in its striking and bold use of colour with subject matter invariably depicting Scottish land and seascape with a warmth and character that draws you in. He uncannily creates an affinity between the subject and the viewer with either a sense of recall or through the mood of the work, and he deftly strikes the balance between commerciality and originality. His collector base is now huge and truly worldwide.
With such a breadth of experience and his all round contribution to the Scottish Charitable and contemporary art scene, it was with some delight and pride that we received the go-ahead to include Jolomo in our 1st Anniversary Exhibition.
_title03.jpg){kind=small}
