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Began work at Messrs Ballantyne stained glass studio and studied in the evenings at Edinburgh College of Art specialising in etchings. Became friends with William Gillies and John Maxwell and his work shows the same expressionist approach to landscape in particular. Travelled to Spain as a result of the RSA Carnegie Scholarship. Spent a period studying at the Royal College of Art in London. In Edinburgh he worked as a designer of stained glass and fulfilled many important commissions. In addition to stained glass he was also very proficient in the medium of watercolour and an important printmaker. He exhibited at the RSA Annual Exhibitions from 1924 until1960 when he became blind. He became an Associate Member in 1939 and an Academician in 1949. He received the OBE in 1961. In 2022 a major exhibition of his work across printmaking, watercolour, and stained glass, was mounted by the Royal Scottish Academy accompanied by a fully illustrated publication. His uncle Thomas Wilson had been a student at the RSA Life School before William Wilson was born.