George Wyllie

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George Wyllie (born 1921) is a Scottish artist who resides in Gourock. He worked as a customs officer before taking up art. He describes himself as a "scul?tor".

He has produced a number of notable public works notably the Straw Locomotive and the Paper Boat. The Straw Locomotive consisted of a full size steam locomotive, constructed from straw, and suspended from the Finnieston Crane, by the River Clyde in Glasgow [1]. The sculpture was built at the former locomotive works at Springburn, and suspended from the crane for several months during the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival, before being taken back to the Springburn site and ceremonially burnt.

His Slap and Tickle Machine is in the collection of the People's Palace, Glasgow, and wind-up stainless steel palm trees and a sculptural bandstand featured in the café of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

Wyllie's work can also be seen in the Clyde Clock (depicting a clock on running legs), outside Buchanan bus station and in the Monument to Maternity (depicting a huge nappy pin), on the site of the former Rottenrow Maternity Hospital.

He is a past president of the Society of Scottish Artists and provides an award for an imaginative work at their annual exhibition.

He was awarded the MBE in the New Years Honours List 2005.