Bancroft Studio Tour

HARRY LANGFORD / PAINTER

Highland Grove painter, Harry Langford was born in Jamaica and brought to Canada at the age of five. And he can still vividly recall the intense smell and taste of the ocean of his birth place while swimming at such a young age. It has left him with an indelible affinity for water.

While in grade one, he recalls making a drawing of an alligator that wowed the teacher and his fellow students. And one of his classmates loving it so much that he offered to buy it from him! He declined the purchase as he liked it too much. But, what an amazing start to an artistic career.

However, even though his parents provided him with art-making materials that he made use of throughout his growing stages, his career in art would not get underway until decades later. After graduation from high school in Sarnia, he landed a job at his uncle’s newspaper publication firm where he took an immediate affinity to the art of advertising design and assembly, making hand-drawn layouts of ads and creating the art for them with type setups and hot wax on the paper board pages of the publication. Then moved along to be made into film and printed.

Several years later, in 1981 he left that occupation and moved to Toronto where he quickly landed employment in the same job with the Toronto Sun—and turned it into a 33-year career that eventually expanded into editorial editing/writing coupled with page layout and design. Early on he had moved to Oshawa–that requiring him to make the long commute from Durham Region to downtown Toronto.

During those years, Langford had started painting in watercolours and oils and had joined the Oshawa Art Association, entering and having his paintings hung, when accepted, in their annual juried shows. And eventually he took up painting in acrylics with his favourite being the technique of Dutch pour painting—a method of combining a choice of several to numerous acrylic paint colours with a mixing medium. The result is an abstract running of colours into patterns that you can manipulate into swirls and designs. Harry “liked the freedom it gave him and the unusual results.” And, as well, he still paints traditional acrylic on canvas landscapes and abstracts.

In 2019, Langford was given an employment buyout by the Sun and bought a house and property in Highland Grove. He moved there with his girlfriend and her child; and soon involved himself in the art scene in Bancroft, joining the Art Gallery of Bancroft and becoming a member of A Place For The Arts—where he has often shown his work and has had good sales of his works. He joined the Studio Tour last year, showing his work at his place in Highland Grove. But will join participant, Lyle Collins at his location, 616 Bronson Road in Bronson. Harry can be reached at harrylangford123@gmail.com

(Profile writing and photo by Allan O’Marra)