George Wyllie (1921–2012) burst onto the contemporary art scene during the 1980s. He was in his sixties and unfettered by formal art training. Disadvantaged by a happy childhood, disciplined by life on the ocean wave and spoiled by a happy marriage, he ruffled feathers through his playfully serious art. Born in Glasgow, Wyllie trained as an engineer with the Post Office before serving in the Royal Navy and spending 30 years as a Customs and Excise Officer. He only became a full-time artist in his late fifties. His best-known public artworks are the Straw Locomotive (1987) and the Paper Boat (1989). He continued making art at his home overlooking the Firth of Clyde in Gourock until he was in his eighties. He died, aged 90, in 2012. The George Wyllie Foundation plans to open a gallery dedicated to George Wyllie in Greenock in 2022.