John Harrison was born eighty-nine years ago today. Though never a train spotter, the London Midland and Scottish Railway was never far away while John was growing up in Lancashire, whether for holidays, shopping trips, family visits or the occasional commute if the buses weren’t running. After art training in Liverpool, John went on to become Head of Art in a large comprehensive school. Having eventually taken early retirement, he was able to concentrate on his own railway art. A full member of the Guild of Railway Artists - and formerly on the guild council - he adds, “my work is unashamedly nostalgic, seeking to recapture the men, machines and atmosphere of a departed way of life”. John Harrison’s work, with watercolour as his usual medium of choice, certainly exudes atmosphere - heavy grey skies, wet days, polluted air and railwaymen going about their business. John captures the gritty everyday reality of the steam railway in the 1950s and 1960s as well as anyone. Most competent railway artists communicate the appearance of the steam locomotive effectively in technical terms. It is skill on a different level to additionally bring to life railwaymen in their everyday surroundings as convincingly as he does. It was a pleasure to meet him yesterday and to travel back home with this particularly evocative John Harrison original - a glimpse inside Sutton Oak shed, entitled Memories of 8G. It is a scene so reminiscent of our own frequent visits to the next shed in the list - 8H Birkenhead. Happy returns of the day, John. Thank you for welcoming me and for sharing some of your own memories so readily.
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