Little George and the Dragon

The regular rumble in the distant heralds the approach of a huge labouring freight train, little George, that’s the guy in the pram, sees them as Dragons and through a child’s eyes they fit the description as found in the story books perfectly.
They are very frightening when they breathe fire and smoke, they hide in caves and tunnels, they can sneak up on you or sound like thunder and they can come in various colours but mostly grunge the colour of the cave.
The rugged landscape with its step gradients, tunnels and deep cuttings create the perfect environment for little Georges Dragons, on a still day you can clearly hear them wheezing and barking in the distance only for the sound to suddenly disappear as the creature enters a secret tunnel,only to appear fifteen minutes later in a huge cloud of steam and smoke, all the time squealing and snarling while making a deafening roar as if from hell itself, the monster terrifyingly had appear as if from nowhere.
Little George wants to hide, but like the rabbit in the headlights he’s transfixed by the scene before him. Something he will never forget.
Snorting steam sparks and smoke being forcibly punched high into the sky, is the classic trademark of a long Derbyshire limestone train.

Artists and photographers would agree that steam trains and Derbyshire go together like nuts and bolts, as there was always the continuous visual battle between mans primitive steam machines and nature.

The painting depicts a 9f freight engine hauling a long limestone train towards the outskirts of Stockport, with little George viewing one of his favourite Dragons .

Acrylic and oil on board, with airbrushed atmospherics.