john harrell
Painter
John has been drawing and painting his entire life. He retired after 30 years with the Merced County Division of Environmental Health in 2007, and now has more time to devote to his love of fine art. He has been an active member of the Arbor Gallery since 2003.
He studied fine art at San Jose City College and at San Jose State University. He holds a B.A. degree in Urban Geography. He has completed a number of painting courses at Merced College.
John is interested in all things having to do with transportation. He loves all kinds of ships and boats, and often paints airplanes, trains, cars, trucks, etc. The ocean is a subject providing John with endless fascination. Much time spent on the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington provides ample vistas for upcoming seascape and landscape paintings. Scenes from the Old West are favorites as well.
John has a lifelong fascination with sports car racing. In 2016, he fulfilled his dream of many years and attended two world famous races, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in Florida, and the 24 Hours of LeMans in France.
John and his wife Cathy are avid travelers, having traveled to London, Paris, Normandy, Rome, Venice, Sicily, Spain, Gibraltar, Bruges in Belgium, and Amsterdam. They have taken cruises to Ireland, Scotland, Alaska, Japan and South Korea. As a child, John sailed to, and lived in, the Philippines and Japan. Travel included Hong Kong, Guam, Kwajalein Atoll, and Hawaii. Cathy was born in Fairbanks, Alaska and returned to her birthplace in 2016. She has lived in Spain and Bermuda.
John is an active member of the Castle Air Museum, and has completed paintings, murals, and scratch-built airplane models for the gift shop, the Indoor Museum, and the restoration hangar. He painted two large B-52 bomber artworks and a KC-135 tanker for the gift shop ceiling. John and his son Jerry have served as crew chiefs on the Douglas C-47 cargo aircraft, as well as the gigantic British Avro Vulcan nuclear bomber. Additionally, he regularly serves as a docent giving tours of the Air Force One VC-9C Presidential Aircraft at Castle Air Museum.
John’s favorite is painting in acrylic media, but also enjoys oils, watercolors, mixed media, collage, cartooning, and scratch building model cars, ships, trains and planes. John and Cathy recently celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary. They now reside in Turlock, after 41 years in Merced. They have three grown children, and five grandchildren.
