Industrial Cathedral

Industrial Cathedral
"Industrial Cathedral" charcoal on paper 131 x 131 cm Jane Bennett. Finalist in 1998 Dobell Drawing Prize Art Gallery of NSW Finalist 1998 Blake Prize Winner 1998 Hunter's Hill Open Art Prize

About Me

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Sydney, NSW, Australia
I'm an Industrial Heritage Artist who paints "en plein air".If it's damaged, derelict, doomed and about to disappear, I'll be there to paint it.
Showing posts with label Artist in Residence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Artist in Residence. Show all posts

Sunday 30 August 2020

Heavy Lifting

Plein air oil painting of crane lifting a boat at the Hungry Mile, East Darling harbour Wharves painted by marine artist Jane Bennett
DH143 Preparing for a boat lift
2007 oil on canvas 92 x 122cm

Available for sale

 










 
 
 
 
Today's painting on my easel on the deck gallery was a large canvas painted during my stint as "Artist in Residence" at the East Darling Harbour Wharves. Very few container ships were docked at the East Darling Harbour Wharves - in its last 5 years of operations most went to Botany, which handled container or "boxes" only. 
The East Darling Harbour Wharves specialized in break bulk cargo - items that can’t be transported by container, sometimes resulting in a diverse & rather incongruous payload. Sand, salt, gypsum was bagged or piled in gleaming unstable mounds on the wharf. Rolls of steel, pipes & timber lengths for construction were stacked in piles inside the sheds. Cars, vans, trucks, forklifts, excavators  & agricultural machinery were driven down the ramps of the Ro-ros at breakneck speed as though the wharfies were auditioning for yet another remake of ‘the Italian Job’ or the ‘Fast & the Furious”, & then parked in neat rows until they were lifted or driven onto B-doubles. 
A selection of excavators, mining or agricultural machinery and the ubiquitous rolls of steel coils would lie for weeks inside the sheds.  Luxurious 'hot-water' boats, most of which were larger than my house and definitely cost more, were nonchalantly lifted off the ships & dangled from the cranes like giant earrings. Some of these boats were so enormous that they looked almost capable of carrying the ship that brought them. There were even more oddball items such as helicopters, train carriages, yachts & caravans. And one unforgettable afternoon  a couple of horses broke free while being unloaded from their box and had to be caught and restabled, turning the wharf into a wild west show.
Plein air oil painting of crane lifting a boat at the Hungry Mile, East Darling harbour Wharves painted by marine artist Jane Bennett
DH143 Preparing for a boat lift
2007 oil on canvas 92 x 122cm

Available for sale














 
 
 
 
This canvas was painted from the centre of the area between the Patrick offices in Shed 5, looking north towards Shed 4, with the western end of Balmain in the background. The huge white shed of White Bay can be seen in the background in the gap between the crane & the boat that has just been unloaded.
The giant vermilion crane, “L3” is bathed in clear morning light, poised with its pink spreader aloft in mid air. It had just placed the boats on wooden structures known as “Nafis” so they could be hooked up to one of the 2 rather elderly forklifts to be positioned on the wharf until they were transferred onto a B-double truck & delivered to a marina. I asked whether the term ‘Nafi’ was an abbreviation or a brand name, or anything to do with the naval term 'Naafi" but nobody on the wharf seemed to know the origin of the word. Like many other items on the wharf, the Nafis were brightly painted, mostly in primary colours, but here there is an orange one on the left hand side & a green one on the left.  There were random clusters of them stacked neatly one on top of the other all over the wharf. 
The unnaturalistic colours of the machinery added to the pervasive feeling of living inside a Jeffrey Smart painting. The maintenance workers, who serviced the cranes & forklifts, always wore bright orange overalls, of exactly the same hue as the witches hats. I know that none of it was arranged deliberately to help me compose my painting, but there was a pleasing compositional triangle of the orange –clothed workman striding purposefully away from the orange sled, with the orange witches hat in the foreground. The spreader directly above his head also has a matching orange “A” shaped crane attachment, although to strike a discordant note, its framework is a teeth-jarring shade of pink. The reds, pinks & oranges of the machinery stand out strongly against the large expanse of clear pale blue sky & matching strip of sea are interrupted by the sap green of the trees of Balmain in the background. Oddly, the completed painting has the poise and compositional balance of Jeffrey Smart and Edward Hopper, although painted under infinitely more trying circumstances than a neat white studio. Although large & complex, this was a pure plein air painting- totally painted outdoors, no photography, no tricks. Just the culmination of a lifetime of observation.
It was an eye-opening experience to be able to see first-hand, how much work & how many people have to be involved in providing goods that we take for granted.
This was painted in September 2007, in the last few weeks of East Darling Harbour Wharves activity as an operational wharf. The following week, all three shore cranes were repainted in the yellow & white colours of AT & T livery, prior to being moved onto a barge & towed to their new homes in Webb Dock, Melbourne & Port Kembla.
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Friday 28 August 2020

Norfolk Guardian

Today's painting on my deck gallery is a diptych of an unusual visitor to the East Darling Harbour Wharves.
I spent most of the early 2000s as ‘Artist in Residence’ on the East Darling Harbour Wharves before its redevelopment into Barangaroo. 
One day in 2005 I arrived very early on a calm clear morning & a couple of wharfies grabbed me as I signed in.They were very excited & yelled “Quick, get your easel, you must paint the Norfolk Guardian- you don’t see ships like this every day!” 
A smallish vessel was docking at Wharf 5. It had an oddly shaped crane in its centre, which I later found out was known as a ‘derrick’ crane as it looked similar to the old fashioned oil rigs. A Derrick ship’s crane is a relic of the past, harking back to the days before containerization forced uniformity of ship design & changed their lines from sleek to squat & boxy.
The luminous peach tones of the horizon meeting the skyline of Goat Island & the northern suburbs in the background harmonized with the butter yellow ship's crane & sky blue hull, making an odd contrast with the heavy industrial subject matter. 
I watched the complex interplay of the ship's crane with the shore crane with a mixture of fascination & trepidation as rows of pipes were unloaded with consummate skill.
I didn't know how long I'd have to paint it before it left, so I added an extra canvas to the original one, making the total image a square.
Plein air oil painting of Islander ship Norfolk Guardian unloading at East Darling Harbour Wharves painted by Jane Bennett
DH34A-B'The Norfolk Guardian Diptych' 2005





























 
       










 
each panel oil on canvas 91 x 46 cm
Available for sale

The M.V. Norfolk Guardian (IMO: 8600856) is a General Cargo that was built in 1987, sailing under the flag of Tonga, & freighting break bulk cargo to Norfolk Island, New Zealand & the South Pacific. Ports of call include Norfolk Island, Auckland, Lyttleton & Marsden Point, Tasmania. Transhipments can be arranged to various destinations in the South Pacific, including Samoa, Fiji, etc.
Cargo handled by the Norfolk Guardian includes: general cargo, hazardous goods, freezer/cooler, hardwood poles, sawn timber, processed timber products.
They also ship Personal Effects from Norfolk Island & New Zealand to Yamba, Australia.
"Break bulk" is a term used for products which can't be transported in containers. It includes a wide mix of articles- from salt, gypsum, cement to timber, steel coils and heavy machinery as well as cars, trucks and boats.

About 50 years ago, the containerization of shipping modified the wharves dramatically & transformed port cities beyond recognition.

The humble shipping container isn't just a metal box - it created the world as we know it today.

Once goods were loaded and transported around the world as "break bulk" cargo. Container standardization revolutionized global trade, making it easier, quicker and cheaper. However,with the advent of the container, some of the mystery & magic of the shipping industry was lost forever.

John Crowley, the Port Operations Manager, used to describe the East Darling Harbour Wharves (aka Port Jackson) as a ‘boutique’ wharf. 
Port Botany is built on a superhuman scale and only deals with containers, so is huge, homogeneous and increasingly run by robots. Port Jackson, on the other hand, had a mix of break-bulk & containers & therefore was more dependent on the personal skills and judgement of the individual wharf workers. 
Islander ships are dwarfed by the container ships & totally unsuitable for the huge computerized straddle cranes of Port Botany. 
Now that the East Darling Harbour Wharves are closed, most "break bulk" is unloaded at Port Kembla, although Blackwattle Bay and to an increasingly lesser extent Glebe Island and White Bay still handle salt, cement and gypsum. 
Related Posts 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday 29 July 2020

Painting the Svitzer tug Wonga in Sydney Harbour

The 'Wonga' was built in 1983 and was one of the Svitzer 'pusher' tugs.
Their names started with 'W' - Wilga, Wonga, Woona, Walan, Watagan. I've no idea why they picked that particular letter to christen their tugs. As a 'wonga' is a type of pigeon, not a marine bird, I'm not sure why this name was chosen for a marine vessel.
To me, the trio of names 'Wilga', 'Wonga', 'Woona', had a sort of alliterative poetry, and whenever I painted one of the three, I would be asked if I also had paintings of the other two, to make up the set.
Plein air oil painting of the Svitzer tug 'Wonga' in Sydney Harbour with cargo ship 'Mountain Reliance'painted by marine artist Jane Bennett
DH236 'The tug 'Wonga' with 'Victorian Reliance''
2007 oil on board 20 x 25cm
SOLD
Enquiries about other paintings of tugs
This shows the 'Wonga' in action with a cargo ship.
They were once a very common sight in Sydney Harbour, when Sydney Harbour was still a fully working port. As 'Artist in Residence' on the East Darling Harbour Wharves during the first decade of this century, I would see at least one of these tugs everyday. If they weren't accompanying one of the container ships or Ro-ros (roll-on roll-off car vessels) to the East Darling Harbour Wharves, Glebe Island or White Bay, they would be escorting a cruise ship to the Cruise ship terminal at Darling Harbour Wharf 8, or an oil tanker to Gore bay.
Plein air oil painting of the Svitzer tug 'Wonga' in Sydney Harbour passing Goat Island painted by marine artist Jane Bennett
DH241 'The 'Wonga' 2011
oil on board 28 x 35cm
Available
This painting shows the 'Wonga' passing Goat Island. It was on its way to a new task, from its then home in East Balmain next to the ferries.
The number of tugs in Sydney Harbour declined with the closure of East Darling Harbour Wharves and its replacement with the controversial Barangaroo development project.
Plein air oil painting of the Svitzer tug 'Wonga' in Sydney Harbour passing Balmain painted by marine artist Jane Bennett
DH194 The 'Wonga' 2008
oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
SOLD
Enquiries about other paintings of tugs
This earlier painting shows the 'Wonga' passing Balmain.
Now, the 'Wonga' is one of the 2 tugs (the other being the 'Walan') based at Port Pirie which is located 223 kilometres north of Adelaide at the top of Upper Spencer Gulf,
Port Pirie, a small town of 16,000, is still home to the type of heavy industry now removed from Sydney Harbour. The Nyrstar concentrate smelter in Port Pirie is one of the largest smelters in the world.

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Tuesday 14 July 2020

Millers Point from the top of the Harbour Control Tower

Before the inevitable demolition of the Harbour Control Tower, I wanted to paint a very large panorama of this amazing view.
I'd had the run of the top floor and the amenities level of the 87 metre high Harbour Control Tower from the early 2000s until port operations finished there in April 2011. Afterwards I had occasional access to create paintings of various stages of the construction of Barangaroo. 
I'd spent many unforgettable New Year’s Eves on the top floor, painting 360 degrees of the fireworks exploding underneath against the spectacular harbour view.
The perspective was very tricky, so I warmed up with a few smaller works first.
This is a small study of the rooftops of the heritage Miller's Point terraces and the former Bond stores of the Walsh Bay Wharves.
Plein air oil painting of Miller's Point  and Walsh Bay Wharves from top of the Harbour Control Tower painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Work in progress " Miller's Point  and Walsh Bay Wharves
from top of the Harbour Control Tower "
2014 oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm
.
There was such an overwhelming mass of tiny details that I needed to tackle this subject in a series of small works before risking getting bogged down in a huge oil painting. I wanted to understand the rhythm of the landscape.
The perspective is made more complex by the landbridges over the twisting streets winding their way from the angled rows of Walsh Bay Wharves up the hills.
The entire suburb of Miller's Point lies at my feet and the roads seem to curve towards the Opera House in the middle distance.
Plein air oil painting of Miller's Point  and Walsh Bay Wharves from top of the Harbour Control Tower painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
HCT47  'Millers Point from top of Harbour Tower'
oil on canvas 36 x 46cm



















As you can see, my palette changed by the time I finished this work - one of the hazards of working 'en plein air'. I started early, but didn't finish for a few hours, so the clear pale yellows of the morning deepened to the burnt orange and rich purple shadows of the afternoon.
I had to stand on a chair to paint this, as the windows on the Amenities floor were a bit too high for me to see the terraces.
I'm only 5'1"- short, even for a woman.
Exactly the same height as Toulouse-Lautrec. Unfortunately I love painting canvases on an epic scale
.
The tower would sway in the wind, sometimes almost imperceptibly, and sometimes with a rolling motion that can induce seasickness which is distracting when trying to paint fine details.
In the far distance, you can see the silhouette of the half-demolished Hammerhead Crane on Garden Island, which was finally removed by October 2014. I had just finished a stint as 'Artist in Residence' on Garden Island painting this before the demolition started.
The demolition of the Harbour Control Tower would be next. However I did manage to finish a few large scale panoramas from the top floor, before I lost one of my best studios forever.
The State library now has several of these works in their collection.

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Monday 13 July 2020

Meltdown-Oxycutting, William Wallbank and Sons, Auburn

The now derelict 'William Wallbank and Sons' was a foundry on the Parramatta Road, Auburn, built in 1932.
I've been painting the machinery before it is all stripped out and sent to a scrap metal yard.
Plein air painting of oxycutting machinery in the interior of the disused foundry William Wallbank and Sons, Auburn painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
AWW5 Oxycutting, William Wallbank + Sons foundry
2017 oil on canvas 46cm tondo














Some of the ladles and other machinery that couldn't be sold intact were being broken up for scrap by oxycutting. 
During this exciting process, I painted some small and medium circular canvases, known as tondos.
In Art, the circular format of the tondo was often used for religious subjects.
Extreme chiaroscuro was also exploited by artists such as Caravaggio, to heighten the contrast between the gloomy background and the intensely illuminated saints or angels.
The fire in the dim interior gave the scene a mysterious atmosphere, reminding me of the nocturnal paintings of one of my favourite artists, Georges de la Tour.
Figures in his paintings are enveloped in shifting accretions of darkness - hands and features picked out by pooling, smoky light.
 
Plein air painting of oxycutting machinery in the interior of the disused foundry William Wallbank and Sons, Auburn painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
AWW5 Oxycutting, William Wallbank + Sons foundry
2017 oil on canvas 46cm tondo"















Oxycutting is one of the oldest welding processes.
A torch is used to heat the metal to its kindling temperature. When it's cherry red, a stream of oxygen is focused on the heated part and chemically reacts with the ferrous metal, producing more heat and forming molten iron oxide which is then blasted out of the cut.
The melting point of the iron oxide is about half that of the metal being cut, so it will immediately turn to liquid iron oxide and flow away from the cutting zone.
Plein air painting of oxycutting machinery in the interior of the disused foundry William Wallbank and Sons, Auburn painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
AWW5 Oxycutting, William Wallbank + Sons foundry
2017 oil on canvas 46cm tondo"














Starting a cut in the middle of a workpiece is known as piercing.
Once it has started, steel can be cut surprisingly quickly, far faster than if it were completely melted through.
Sometimes remnants of iron oxide remain on the workpiece, forming a hard "slag" which can be removed by tapping or grinding.
Plein air painting of oxycutting machinery in the interior of the disused foundry William Wallbank and Sons, Auburn painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
AWW6 Oxycutting, William Wallbank + Sons foundry
2017 acrylic on paper 56 x 76cm

















The hottest part of the flame is approximately 6,000 °F (3,300 °C) - hot enough to easily melt steel.
But the flame of the cutting torch is not intended to melt the metal, just bring it to its ignition temperature.
The rest of the heat is created by the burning metal itself.
Plein air painting of oxycutting machinery in the interior of the disused foundry William Wallbank and Sons, Auburn painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
AWW5 Oxycutting, William Wallbank + Sons foundry
2017 oil on canvas 46cm tondo"
.
A basic oxy-acetylene rig is faster than a petrol-driven cut-off grinder, as well as lighter, smaller, quieter and not as prone to severe vibration. 
Oxy-acetylene torches can easily cut through ferrous materials as thick as 200 mm. 
However oxy-acetylene has its limitations. It can only efficiently cut low- to medium-carbon steels and wrought iron.
High-carbon steels aren't suitable because the melting point of the slag is closer to the melting point of the parent meta.The slag from the cutting action mixes with the clean melt near the cut, which means the oxygen doesn't reach the clean metal to burn it. With cast iron, graphite between the grains interferes with the cutting action of the torch. Stainless steels can't be cut either with this process, because the material doesn't burn as easily.
Plein air painting of oxycutting machinery in the interior of the disused foundry William Wallbank and Sons, Auburn painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
AWW7 Oxycutting, William Wallbank + Sons foundry 2
2017 oil on canvas 46cm tondo
Painting this was fascinating, but there was an undercurrent of sadness, as it
marked the point of no return.
The life of the former foundry was at an end, and its vivisection will be the last fires lit inside.

"Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice."

"Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost

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