Lossiemouth (known as Lossie) is a fishing town in Moray known as the Riviera of the North. Two beaches, one to the East and one to the West, flank the iconic harbour. It is an amalgamation of several fishing villages: Kinneddar, Stotfield, Seatown and Branderburgh – these neighbouring coastal communities once sat on a peninsula wedged between the Moray Firth and the Loch Spynie. This large sea loch stretched eleven miles east-west, from Lossie to Burghead. In 1600, shifting sands cut it off from the sea. In the mid-1800s, Thomas Telford engineered the draining of the peninsula. James Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) who was originally from Lossiemouth, made the place famous when he became Prime Minister in 1929.
Lossiemouth Harbour is both closely observed and a personal edit of the harbour, sky and landscape beyond – the reflections in the water carefully balance a sky which has echoes of ships passing and houses on the clifftop.
Sir Harry Jefferson Barnes was the Director of the Glasgow School of Art 1964–1980. He grew up in Sheffield and went on to study at the Slade under Randolph Schwabe. Barnes became Assistant Master in Painting and Drawing at the Glasgow School of Art in 1944. He was appointed Director in 1964 and set up the Mackintosh School of Architecture in 1965. His own personal interest in stage design was shown in the part he played in promoting and managing many of the students’ plays at the Glasgow School of Art. He was also a set designer for the Glasgow Grand Opera Society. In conjunction with John Noble, Barnes acquired the Edinburgh Tapestry Company in 1954 at The Dovecot Studios and assisted running it. Barnes also served on the Saltire Society and the National Trust for Scotland and was on the board of the Citizens Theatre. During the 50s and the 60s, Barnes’ interests in Scotland gravitated to the crafts and he was involved in the creation of the Scottish Crafts Centre in Edinburgh and was appointed Convener of the Panel of Assessors who judged the work submitted to the Centre. He also represented the Scottish Crafts Centre as a member of the Joint Crafts Committee.