1919-1987 Lawrie trained at Grays in Aberdeen and in 1941 joined the film industry in London as a cameraman. It was at this time, painting on sets and location, that he first sold a picture - to Dylan Thomas for £5. Later in the 1940s he exhibited at Wolf Mankowitz' Little Gallery in London. Following a period in Africa, he followed the advice of the Scottish colourist and old friend, J. D. Ferguson, and went to live in the south of France (at St Paul de Vence) - for 9 years, returning to Edinburgh in 1960. Within Scotland his favourite locations were the Western Highlands and Outer Hebrides. His paintings possess a realist core but using strong colours and heavy impasto he enjoyed injecting atmosphere and strong abstract tones into much of his work
