Biography: Hardie Gramatky, N.A. (1907-1979) Born: Dallas, TX; Studied: Stanford University, Chouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles); Member: National Academy of Design, New York Water Color Club, American Watercolor Society, California Water Color Society. Hardie Gramatky was raised in Southern California. He studied art with F. Tolles Chamberlin, Clarence Hinkle, Pruett Carter...... read more
"Dad painted this when he got back from a trip to Scotland, England and France with my mother and their 9-year-old grandson, our son Andrew. Mom described how she stood up on the hill overlooking Urquhart Castle as Dad (age 71) and Andrew ran down to explore the castle. The sheep were grazing on the hillside, and Mom says that she stared so hard at the loch/lake to see if she could see the Loch Ness monster. In 1979, this painting won the High Winds Medal at the American Watercolor Society exhibit, and I brought the award out to Westport to give to him two days before he died. Ten years after Dad's death, Mom and I finished his last children's book, Little Toot and the Loch Ness Monster and it was published by G. P. Putnam's. In 1992, actress Shelley Duvall included an animated version of the book in her Bedtime Stories videos and it won an Emmy nomination. I think Dad must have been proud of Mom and me, and it all started with a trip and this painting. It was featured in the Bergen Museum of Art & Science 1989 exhibit."
Courtesy of daughter-Linda Gramatky Smith
