In the beginning, I thought I knew George's work, but it turns out I knew nothing.

Before getting involved with helping to cement the Wyllie legacy as an artist of international importance (as one of the organizers of the award-winning Whysman Festival), I knew George had created the Straw Locomotive, a life-sized straw engine which hung from the Finnieston Crane in Glasgow for six weeks during the summer of 1987. I also knew about a huge Paper Boat which he launched into the River Clyde with no little fanfare from beneath the same crane two years later. Both these events received an enormous amount of press and publicity. George, a retired Customs and Excise officer, turned full-time artist, had a knack for mast...