Painter, maker of constructions and sculptures, and teacher, born in Inverness, Scotland. Studied at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, 1961–7, including a period at Patrick Allan–Fraser School of Art, Hospitalfield, Arbroath. Then won a scholarship to British School of Art in Rome. Maclean came from a fishing family, and on his return from Rome he worked as a fisherman off Scotland. Meanwhile, he was showing in solo exhibitions, at 57 Gallery, Edinburgh, in 1968; and at Richard Demarco Gallery there, in 1970. When the Scottish International Education Trust commissioned Maclean to make a visual survey of ring-net fishing in 1973 it led to a creative burst of activity; the project was shown at Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, in 1978, eventually being acquired by Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.