I learned to paint at the famous Glasgow School of Art and my first one-man show was in Dublin, Ireland.  Over the years I have shown my work in the U.K., the U.S.A. and, of course, Israel.

I have visited many beautiful countries, and indeed I grew up in one, but since living in Israel I find that I can paint only in my surroundings – Upper Galilee, the Hulah Valley, the Golan Heights, the River Jordan, the Sea of Galilee. I am not religious but these places affect me so that I have to paint them.

I live in a kibbutz  near the Jordan and when I lived here at first one could not approach the river because of Syrian snipers but since 1967 the Golan Heights is part of Israel and it is safe to go there. Some sail down the river in kayaks and some stroll beside it and along it some get baptised in it and some just drive over it on their way to somewhere.

I feel blessed to live in this area and I hope that what I feel for Upper Galilee and Israel comes over in my paintings.

Lawrence Marcuson