Frank Watson Wood was apprenticed to a Berwick grocer at the age of 13, but his artistic ability was soon recognised and he joined the Berwick Art School, run by the artist James Wallace snr. Frank furthered his training at South Kensington Art School (later the Royal College of Art) and later at the Academie Julian in Paris. Returning to the North in 1883 he was appointed Second master at the School of Art in Newcastle and remained there until 1889. Then it was on to Hawick where he was Headmaster of the Art School.

In 1899 he gave up teaching altogether and became a full-time professional artist firstly at Southsea and later in Portsmouth. It was on the South coast that he developed the talent for marine painting for which he is best known outside Berwick.

Right - River Tug by Frank Watson Wood