August 12, 2004 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

‘Goat Hollow’ painter scores with sports, nature art
Story by LEN LEAR

This painting is a tribute to Harris’ late grandfather, Private Matthew Scott, a veteran of World War I.

According to a Finnish proverb, even a small star shines in the darkness. Although the former college linebacker is only a ‘small star’ by the standards of our celebrity-obsessed culture, Luther Harris III, who has lived near Bells Mill Road for the past 30 years, has artistic talent that shines like a beacon at midnight. His artistic instincts are sharper than a serpent’s tooth.

Harris, 56, a former caseworker, supervisor, manager and administrator during a 33-year career with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, is currently uplifting spirits in another discipline. A self-taught artist with stunning talent as a cartoonist, caricaturist and representational painter of athletes and Wissahickon Valley nature scenes, Harris’ work is currently on display through August 16 at Goat Hollow, 300 W. Mt. Pleasant Ave.

You might say the paintings have been flying off the walls at Goat Hollow, without benefit of wings. An antidote to the various forms of abstract art that have been the fashion among the cognoscenti for more than a half-century, Harris’ scenes from sites in and near Valley Green Inn and Kelly Drive have an almost photographic immediacy. If you love nature, these painterly snapshots can put the boom-boom into your heart.

“I started out by drawing my kids in their sports uniforms,” said Luther, “but when other parents would see them, they’d want similar ones of their own kids. So I wound up painting more than 50 for other families, and they would be only too glad to pay for them. That’s when I realized I might actually carve out a second career from my art instead of just doing it for my own enjoyment.”

Luther E. Harris III, a talented nature painter, political cartoonist and caricaturist, currently has an exhibit of his landscapes, seascapes, sports figures and still lifes at Goat Hollow Restaurant, 300 W. Mt. Pleasant Ave. in West Mt. Airy, through August 16. (The painting seen here is of Mill’s Covered Bridge near Valley Green.)

It could even be argued that art is Luther’s third career, not his second. First came his athletic exploits. Growing up in Scranton, Harris played baseball and football for Scranton Central High School and then linebacker — at 210 pounds — on the football team at Bloomsburg University.

His three sons are also from the top drawer, sportswise. The oldest, Luke, 30, was on the football team at Germantown Academy, was an all-conference center at Dickinson College and is now an offensive line coach at Mansfield University. (He was born the day the Harrises moved into their house in this area.) Second son Eddie, 26, was co-captain of the Germantown Academy basketball team, played freshman basketball at St. Joseph’s University and now does promotions for And-1, a running shoe company. Steven, 22, was the Philadelphia Inquirer High School Baseball Player of the Year while at St. Joseph’s Prep, then played baseball at La Salle University on an athletic scholarship and now works for a company in Ardmore that structures financial settlements for area businesses. (Steven still plays in a softball league at the Watertower in Chestnut Hill.)

In addition to producing sons who provide their own thrills with athletic ability, Luther fulfills the fantasies of others with his own artistic chops. One local fireman, for example, who frequently vacations in Las Vegas employed Luke to draw him in a casino setting surrounded by gambling winnings and voluptuous women.

One medical doctor at Health Partners, thehealth insurance company where Harris’ wife Mary works, saw a couple of Harris’ sports paintings. He was so impressed that he hired Harris to draw one of his own son, named Josh, with a famous Jewish figure of the past, baseball legend Hank Greenberg, as a Bar Mitzvah gift.

The doctor was so thrilled with the finished product that he hired Luke to draw 19 more pieces of his son with 19 other Jewish historical figures such as Albert Einstein, Jonas Salk, George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Mike Leiberthal, Mark Spitz, et al.

When Luther’s own athletic dreams were short-circuited in college by a separated shoulder, he proceeded to earn a master’s degree in social work at Temple University. He even managed to use his artistic ability in his social work employment. For example, he did the art work for training pamphlets and the story boards for state training films.

Harris’ 32-year social work career ended two years ago when he decided to devote all of his energies to painting. He has two art mentors, Janet McShain of East Oak Lane and Tom Stiegerwald of Melrose Park, and he works in watercolors, color pencil, pen and ink, and acrylic.

Because of his long career as a social worker, Luther was asked whether or not welfare reform is really working in the Philadelphia area. “Things are definitely much better,” he replied. “People have been required to get job training for a long time and drug counseling if that was relevant, but there were no teeth in the regulations before, and now there are.

“But people coming off welfare, even if they do get job training, still have major problems with transportation and daycare, so they are still going to need help with that. There is a small number who do not go through with the job training or just cannot hold down a job. They are being cut off.”

For more information about Harris’ artwork, call 215-483-3327 or e-mail lehiiimary@aol.com