TRIBUTES have been paid to a well known Ilkley-based artist who has died aged 67.

Graeme Willson, who was an important figure in the Public Mural and Public Art Movements with a broad spread of work, had recently been treated for cancer of the oesophagus at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

His work included prestigious ecclesiastical commissions, as well as many murals for Morrisons supermarkets, including Girlington.

His family have led tributes to him.

His daughter Lucy Wright said on behalf of the family: "Graeme was a much loved father, brother, husband and grandfather, whose love, warmth, sense of humour, passion for and contribution to the arts, will be greatly missed."

Friend Mike Casey, of Ilkley, who was a fellow worshipper at St Margaret's Church, Ilkley, said: "My lasting memory of Graeme is of him casting a glance at his painting of the Madonna of The Moors near the Baptistry a few weeks ago. Moments later, leaving his beloved St Margaret's for the last time, he adjusted his rain-soaked coat and bade me farewell, saying. 'Remember me in your prayers, Mike, won't you?'

"I think he knew time was running out for him. He will be sadly missed - a lovely, unforgettable man."

Graeme is survived by his widow, Polly; elder sister, Christine; younger sister, Rosemary; son, Jacob; daughter, Lucy; and three grandchildren, Rudy, Vita and Freda.

Mr Willson was committed to public art; bringing art out of the gallery and into public spaces where more people could see and appreciate it.

The importance of his contribution to this field and the quality of his work make him a national figure.

He said of his public art: “People who may not normally go to an art gallery get to see my art. And I like the idea of art in places where you would not expect it.

"I also have a belief that the general public, no matter how stressed by the daily pace of things, will register and respond in good faith.”

He graduated from Reading University in 1973 with a degree in Fine Art and worked as a full-time lecturer at the North Lindsey College, South Humberside, from 1973-5. From 1975 onward he has worked as a freelance artist and visiting lecturer at Bradford & Ilkley Community College, Chelsea College, London, the Institute of Advanced, Architectural Studies, University of York, and at Bretton Hall College, South Yorkshire.

He exhibited his work in many group exhibitions in London and elsewhere, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London Contemporary Art Society, Harewood House, Cartwright Hall, Leeds City Art Gallery, and at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate.

Solo exhibitions in London were at the Sloane Street Gallery (1981); Smith’s Gallery and RIBA Gallery (1989). Cartwright Hall held a solo exhibition of his work in 1981 and exhibitions in other Northern England venues include the St Paul’s Gallery, Leeds; Arcade Gallery, Harrogate; Dean Clough, Halifax; and galleries at the University of Bradford (1990) and University of Leeds (1992). An ‘Ilkley Retrospective: 25 years of work in Ilkley by Graeme Willson’ was shown at the Manor House, Ilkley, 2014-15.

He was Artist in Residence for a number of local institutions and organisations, including Cartwright Hall (1987), Leeds Art Gallery (1987 and 1996), and Ilkley Literature Festive and Ilkley Concert Club.

He was the founder of the Yorkshire Mural Artists’ Group, with a view to making art more accessible to more people, particularly in mural forms. His mural commissions have included work for Leeds Corn Exchange, Provident Financial Group, British Rail and Morrisons at branches across England and in Scotland. In Bradford, the Farrow Medical Centre at Undercliffe displays a trapezoid mural by Willson depicting the people and work of the area. The Morrisons store at Girlington, Bradford, also has three murals in the entrance hall, titled ‘Warp and Weft’, depicting traditional industry in the city.

His paintings are held in Bradford at Cartwright Hall and at the University of Bradford, as well as at the University of Hull, University of Sheffield and the Institute of Education, London. The Leeds City Art Gallery has also acquired his work for their permanent collection. Stained glass work can be seen at St Mary’s, Warwick and St Laurence, Rowington, Warwickshire.

In Leeds, Graeme did the mural, “Cornucopia” (1990) which still occupies the four-storey wall, at the junction of New Market Street and Call Lane, outside the Corn Exchange, referring to the architecture of the Corn Exchange and Second White Cloth Hall and to local industries both historic and contemporary.

Many will also remember the emormously long mural, “Inner City Development” (1978-1979) demolished during the development of Millennium Square. (It backed onto the Electric Press Building and faced onto the site which had been occupied by Cuthbert Brodrick’s Oriental Baths, Cookridge Street.)

Within walking distance of the city centre are also two murals, “Fragments from the Post-Industrial State” (1981-1984) at Oddy Locks, Leeds Liverpool Canal.

He was a member of the Yorkshire Mural Artists’ Group from its foundation in 1978 until it disbanded in 1988.