Painter and teacher, born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, where he continued to live, at Crossford, By Carluke. Shanks was a painter inspired by the river and valley close to his home and as an artist was highly regarded by his peers. He studied at Glasgow School of Art, receiving a post-diploma and travelling scholarship to Italy. He returned to teach at Glasgow School of Art, eventually becoming a full-time painter. Shanks won an Arts Council Award, Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Torrance Award and the RSA Latimer Award as well as other awards and prizes. He was elected to the Royal Glasgow Institute in 1982, to RSW in 1987 and RSA in 1990. Shanks was included in a num- ber of notable group shows, having solo exhibitions at Stirling University, Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, Fine Art Society in Glasgow and Edinburgh and in 1998 at Roger Billcliffe Fine Art, Glasgow, works moving towards abstraction.