Born John Stark Adamson in the coal mining village of Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Jack started painting in water colours as a school boy of 10 and remained self-taught until many years later.

Jack as a young apprentice.

Life in 1930's Scotland didn't offer many choices for a young man in those days and after working a short time in the coal mines around Forth as a young lad of 16, Jack decided to go to sea.

From 1936 to 1940, he served as a deck apprentice on the Tramp Cargo Steamers of the Glasgow Company Douglas and Ramsey Ltd. That year (1940) saw the beginning of World War II and Jack, like many other young men, became a member of the Merchant Navy Reserve Pool for the duration of the war, serving as an officer aboard cargo and oil tankers on the North Atlantic convoy routes. 

Jack continued painting in water colours until becoming interested in using oil media in 1946 when he was encouraged to attend art courses while serving at sea with W. H. N. Jarvis, a Master Mariner and well known Marine Artist of Liverpool, England.  In 1947, he joined C. T. Bowring Steamships Ltd. of London, England and over the next few years continued to rise through the ranks.
(See merchant navy)

In 1949, Jack, along with W.H.N. Jarvis and several West Indian artists,  founded the Art Association of Trinidad and Tobago.  He exhibited mostly marine and portrait studies in the West Indies on and off until 1955.

In 1957, Jack was offered an opportunity to join the Iron Ore Company of Canada in Sept IIes, Quebec, as Terminal Dock Foreman which he accepted. Later that year he was transferred to Knob Lake, Quebec, later known as Schefferville, to work in French Mine, an open pit iron ore mining project in the wilds of northern Quebec. 

In 1961 he transferred again, this time to Carol Lake, (Labrador City) where he had the rare opportunity to meet and guide the Canadian artist A. Y. Jackson, one of the famous Group of Seven on a painting excursion in the bush. This encounter inspired Jack to paint again but it was not until 1963, that he once more took up his brush, this time painting the scenes around him in the wilderness of Labrador.

Jack always' had 2 or 3 paintings on the go.

Over the next few years as Jack continued to ply his talents, he developed a strong desire to paint full time and to own an art studio by the sea. This dream was realized in 1976 when after 20 years with I.O.C., Jack took early retirement to paint full time and settled in Indian Harbour, Nova Scotia, opening **Faoileige Studio, just four miles from Peggy's Cove.

Until his death in 1992, Jack painted the fishing villages, coves, harbours and people in and around Nova Scotia as well as specializing in the tall ships found here on this web site. On a visit to his studio, one would find portraits, landscapes, seascapes and historical studies of the surrounding area.

Artist  at work.

He was an active participant and promotor of Tourism around the South Shore and St Margaret's Bay / Halifax County area in which he lived and earned a solid reputation as a local Nova Scotia Marine Artist.  He exhibited his work several times in and around Halifax / Dartmouth and was commissioned many times throughout the years by businesses and private individuals alike.

Jack's art style and love for the sea has won him many fans both locally and from afar. He  had an uncanny ability to see an area as it was 50 or 60 years ago, a gift that was apparent in many of his paintings. One can find Jack's paintings scattered throughout Canada, the United States, Ireland, India and even Argentina.

"SUPREMACY"
There's awesome beauty where his hand
Has touched the canvas of the land.

The master paint's beyond compare
Radiant colours here and there.

Great artists command a high fee
But the greatest One paints for free.

The verses above are a little poem that Jack came upon many years ago that had particular meaning for him.... Author unknown.