Artist and writer was a great inspiration to many

GEORGE Garson, an artist and writer well-known for his mosaics and stained glass, has died, aged 79.

George was born on 24 May, 1930, and brought up in a two-roomed tenement flat in Edinburgh. He became a shipwright at Henry Robb's yard in Leith, but was already a keen amateur painter by the time he completed his apprenticeship.

He entertained his colleagues by drawing chalk caricatures of them. But he concealed his love of more serious art, spending free time poring over paintings and sketchbooks at the National Gallery of Scotland.

His wife Jean discovered his ambitions when a neighbour saw him in the National Gallery. She persuaded him to enrol at Edinburgh College of Art in 1960, at the age of 30, and took on extra work to make ends meet.

George's tutors encouraged him to experiment with stained glass, after seeing his daring use of colour. One of them, mosaicist Kingsley Cook, recognised his talent and urged the college to take him on as a lecturer when he graduated.

He taught in Edinburgh for several years, before moving to Glasgow School of Art in 1971. He began to become well-known as an artist, as well as being a gifted teacher. Among his best-known works are the Stations of the Cross, a series of 14 works at St Peter's RC Church in Morningside.

Many of his students became close friends, including Dugald MacInnes, who followed in his footsteps to become a professional mosaicist. Another student, Agnes Holden, cared for him at her Kirkcudbrightshire home in the months before his death.

George was also a talented writer, and contributed features to the Evening News regularly during the 1980s. He also wrote two books, Orkney All The Way Through, inspired by his family's Orcadian links, and No Idle Bread, focusing on West Lothian shale miners. His poems were published in literary magazines.

After his retirement, George and Jean moved to East Burnside in West Lothian, where they enjoyed entertaining. But he was devastated by the death of their adopted daughter, Jane, followed by the long illness and death of his wife two years ago. After this he became more reclusive. He was diagnosed with cancer late last year, and died on 24 February.

Jim Crumley, a former Evening News features editor and a close friend, said: "He was an artist first and foremost. He was painting and drawing right up to a few weeks before his death. He will be remembered above all as a mosaicist and a stained glass artist.

"He's been my best friend for nearly 30 years. He was a character and a half, and a great inspiration to many students."