Tag: artwork

June 3rd – I headed back to Brownhills along the canal, avoiding the rain-maddened traffic. Rounding Catshill Junction, I noticed that the sculpture here ‘Cycle of Life’ by Ron Thompson & Julie Edwards, is again being consumed by the scrub. This sculpture – of which I’m not a fan, to be honest – was unveiled in 2005 as part of the canal refurbishment; the position of the artwork is so far from the towpaths that the detail of it can barely be appreciated, and it’s always felt a bit of an afterthought to me. 

Now, there’s a new development of flats and houses being constructed on the other side of the fence and the sculpture is more isolated than ever. I do hope the plans for the newbuild have taken this into account. 

Ideally, it would be nice it the piece could be moved to somewhere nearby where the public can actually see the detail in the metalwork. A bit of a missed opportunity, really.

OK, this is a bit odd, but it’s memories, and stuff like this has a huge influence on the things I create here. Last Wednesday, I noted that I had a love of railway stations at night and that I wasn’t sure where I got it from. I mentioned that in the late 70s there was a record label called ‘Late Night Feelings’, one logo for which featured a drawing of two children on a deserted station at night as an Intercity 125 went past.

This recovered memory has bothered me ever since, so I went searching.

Late Night Feelings was a label peculiar to Geno-era Dexy’s Midnight Runners, an Oldbury band who were hugely influential to me as a youth. The drawing of the station at night was actually on the flip side of the seminal ‘Searching for the Young Soul Rebels’ album, and is as beautiful as I remember; the train is actually an APT or Advanced Passenger Train, a tilting design that was never a success. I think it’s gorgeous and thoroughly encapsulates the period. I spent ages looking at that. I still have no idea why. Sadly, I couldn’t find a better image online.

There were three other crayon draw lables, two of which I’ve never seen before. They all seem to feature the same two blonde children. I’d seen the children in bed, as that was on the 45 of Geno, the massive hit. The other two are new to me, but I adore them, particularly the children looking at the city at night.

It occurs to me that in three of the four images, the children have a suitcase. Why? There’s a story there someone was telling. I find that sad, and a bit tortuous.

I have no idea who drew them, or if this has ever been commented on before, but this artwork was prominent enough to stay in my memory for over three decades, and I do think it’s an odd, curious little influence.

They were certainly a very odd feature for records made by the then infants-terrible of soul-pop.

To the artist: I don’t know who you were, or even if you remember, but I did. Thank you.

Funny how things stay with you.

February 27th – Out early to Telford again today – hopefully for the last time in a while. Standing on platform 4c (sort of like New Street’s version of Harry Potter’s platform 9 and three quarters, only less feasible) I looked across the dismal concrete and steel architecture and noticed the steel horse. Life size, jet black and approaching 25 years old, this is part of one of the better public artworks I’ve ever seen. I think there are twelve metallic equine silhouettes in total, at various locations between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, all in animated poses as if racing the train. They are regarded with surprising affection by travellers, and after two and a half decades, they still make me smile.