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 HMAS Kuttabul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HMAS Kuttabul. Show all posts

Monday 14 April 2014

Under the Hammer

Before the Navy finally booted me off Garden Island, I made sure that I tackled some large scale drawings
Since 2007, due to real or perceived safety issues, temporary catch platforms have been suspended from the long arm and short arm jibs. They spoil the line, but apparently provide access to allow condition inspections to be performed safely.
At first glance, it looks as though the Hammerhead Crane has 5 legs.
However, one of these "legs" is a lift to give access from the wharf to the slew ring level (seen in the centre at the top of my drawing). As the crane is 61m high, this wasn't an idle luxury.
Unfortunately this lift has been out of operation since 1998.
While drawing this, I met probably the last person to have ever used the lift. He was escorting a group of photographers to the top, and had pressed the lift button when he heard a muffled explosion, and then found his hands were black with graphite.
He said that he was lucky and got off lightly. I think he was right.

plein air charcoal and ink drawng of the Hammerhead Crane, Garden Island by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'Under the Hammerhead Crane' 2014
ink, pastel, charcoal,graphite on paper 140 x 110cm
WINNER : 2014 DRAWING PRIZE ROYAL EASTER SHOW
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My hands were also black with graphite after creating this enormous drawing.
I stood directly underneath and looked up into the top of the soaring structure.
By looking up I sought to capture the Burke and Longinus concept of the "sublime", with its overtones of awe, terror and vertigo, rather than the picturesque aspect of the typical "hammerhead" profile, a view familiar from Mrs Macquarie's Chair opposite.
The girders were silhouetted against the open sky; the safety nets resembling fan vaulting in a ruined Gothic abbey.
While creating this enormous drawing, I also remembered Piranesi's devastating images of Roman ruins, dangerously broken and overgrown amid the wreckage of a dead civilization.
 GIHC7 'Under the Hammerhead Crane'
2014 ink pastel charcoal on paper 76 x 56cm
























I am an artist and historian, born into a time and place where only sport and business are valued. Drawing on the ruins of the industrial past , walking under rusty girders in the shadow of toppled giants.
Every ruin is implicitly a reminder that all things are destined for oblivion.
The Hammerhead Crane was built to demonstrate industrial might and the march of progress.
Even as a victim of the slow death of de-industrialization, it retains a poignant grandeur.
This was exhibited in my solo show "Under the Hammer" at the Frances Keevil Gallery from November 18th - December 7th 2014.


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"inheritance"- Post "Hammerhead Crane-Garden Island under threat"

"Inheritance" Post - Navy Fleet Review- an opportunity missed


Friday 17 January 2014

Rust never sleeps : Painting the Hammerhead Crane Part 2


plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting to paint my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm
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The Hammerhead Crane was constructed between 1944 – 1951 as part of a major development of the Garden Island naval facilities that also included the Captain Cook graving dock.
It was originally intended to serve the ships of both the British and Australian Navies.
 The British Navy had access to the 250 ton Hammerhead Crane at Singapore until 1942. When Singapore fell, this crane was destroyed, but its design and steelwork construction drawings were reused for the Garden Island crane.

plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting to paint my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm
Enquiries

The crane designer was Sir William Arrol Co Ltd of Glasgow, with Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners of London as consultants.
The 250 ton crane was the largest size of the 18 Arrol Titans constructed from 1910 to 1960. The Garden Island Hammerhead Crane was one of the six 250 ton Arrol Titans.
plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Painting my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm
Enquiries

Between 1989 – 1991  the crane capacity was reduced and inspections and repairs were carried out.
In 1995 Jigger hoist was withdrawn from service due to runway corrosion.
1996 seems to have been the last known date of operation.

plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Painting my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm
Enquiries



























Large riveted structures have an inherent problem.
They have, by the nature of their construction, many inaccessible surfaces which can't be completely sealed against water and are therefore prone to corrosion.

plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Work in progress on the easel
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm


This problem was well understood by the designers of the Hammerhead.
Their specifications required that all surfaces to be brought together should be painted with two coats of red lead in boiled linseed oil as a corrosion protective coating, before fit up and riveting. The surfaces were supposed to be brought together while the 2nd paint layer was still wet.
This was the normal procedure to limit corrosion on inaccessible surfaces.

plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Painting my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm




























However, according to the Hammerhead Crane report by Godden Mackay Logan an analysis of the paint layers is as follows:
Substrate: Dark Brown Mill Scale on Steel
First paint layer: Yellow Zinc Chromate Primer
Second Paint Layer: Light Grey Aluminium Top-Coat
Third Paint Layer: Dark Orange Red Lead Primer
Fourth Paint Layer: Grey Alkyd MIO

plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Painting my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm


A Zinc Chromate primer as well as a second coat of grey aluminium paint lie underneath the layer of red lead over most of the crane. 
This was completely contrary to the original specifications of the designers. And with good reason.
Red lead is intended for direct application to ferrous substrates, so it is of limited value when applied over existing paint. 
The National Paints product sheet says that red lead primers are " not suitable for over coating of zinc primed steel".
So there.
plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Painting my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm
Enquiries



























Red lead/Lead tetraoxide (Formula: Pb3O4) is a bright red, heavy, water and alcohol insoluble, poisonous compound and has been used as a pigment since the time of the Roman empire. It was originally known as minium, after the Minius River in northwest Spain where it was first mined. Red lead was usually obtained as a powder by heating the yellow lead ore known as litharge. In the medieval period it was used as a pigment in the production of illuminated manuscripts, and gave its name to the miniature.
In combination with linseed oil, red lead is incomparably useful as a thick, long-lasting anti-corrosive paint.
However red lead  is also notoriously and horribly toxic. 
But then, so is zinc chromate.
plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Painting my canvas of the 
"Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island" 
2014 oil on canvas 91 x 61cm





























Every now and then I can see a sallow greenish yellow hue seeping mockingly through the apparently uniform grey top coat. 
What were they thinking when they applied the zinc chromate primer? 
The combination of a zinc based primer and aluminium based 2nd coat makes me suspect that the first painters of the Hammerhead were attempting a "zinc-alume" solution. The theory is that aluminium and zinc oxides will migrate to a scratched surface and provide enhanced corrosion protection. 
In practice, it didn't work.
plein air oil painting of the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
GIHC6 ' Looking up at the Hammerhead Crane'
2014 oil on paper 12 x 12cm

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There are large areas of breakdown and surface corrosion occurring on the Hammerhead Crane where the paint layers have failed.
Rusting through the paint due to corroding millscale is also common.
Rust is a common metaphor, even a cliche, for slow decay. It gradually but thoroughly corrupts robust iron and steel metal into a soft crumbling powder.
In my paintings, I am grateful for the patches of rust. They add a dash of much needed warmth and texture to contrast with the monotony of the cool grey colour of the steel.
But in real life, rust is something I am sorry to see. It speaks of neglect, of compromise, of lack of foresight, of laziness, of apathy, of failure to preserve and protect.
Decay is not merely physical.

Monday 6 January 2014

Painting the Icebreaker "Polar Star"

I was continuing my paintings of the Hammerhead Crane at Garden Island last Friday when I was startled by the arrival of a large red-hulled ship.
plein air painting of  icebreaker U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"  at Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Holding up my painting of 'U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"arriving at Garden Island'
 2014 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
as the icebreaker departs for the Antarctic
                   


















It docked alongside the Hammerhead Crane, so was difficult to ignore.
On its hull was the number "10" and the name "U.S. Coast Guard" written in white block letters.
It was the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter "Polar Star", one of the world's most powerful icebreakers making a port call in Sydney before it transits to conduct a rescue mission in the Antarctic.
This heavy icebreaker cut short its Sydney visit to go to the rescue of 2 ships stuck in the Antarctic ice - the Russian research ship 'Akademik Shokalskiy' which has been trapped in ice-clogged Commonwealth Bay since Christmas Eve, as well as the Chinese ship which came to its rescue, 'Xue Long' ( 'Snow Dragon' in Chinese) and had also become stuck nearby.
plein air painting of  icebreaker U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"  at Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
Holding up my painting of
'U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star" 
arriving at Garden Island'
 2014 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
                       


















Fortunately I always carry a selection of small canvases, just in case I need to capture an unexpected moment.
I painted a  20 x 25cm small horizontal canvas of the Polar Star's arrival at Garden Island, with the crescent of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background partially hidden by the trees of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Mrs Macquarie's Chair.
I also managed to finish a 15 x 30cm tiny panoramic canvas of the Polar Star docked beside the Hammerhead Crane before her departure for Antarctica on the morning of Sunday 5th January.
And I work fast.
plein air painting of  icebreaker U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"  at Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
On my easel is my half finished panoramic painting of
'U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"  at Garden Island'
 2014 oil on canvas 30 x 153cm
Enquiries
                           


















I started an ambitious panorama showing the "Polar Star" beneath the Hammerhead Crane on the left, while on the right is a glimpse of the HMAS Sydney behind some dock buildings and an old crane.

plein air painting of  icebreaker U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"  at Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
On my easel is my half finished panoramic painting of
'U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"  at Garden Island'
 2014 oil on canvas 30 x 153cm
Enquiries
                           


















I knew I wouldn't have time to finish this painting before the "Polar Star" left for its Antarctic rescue mission, but I have enough information from the 2 small studies I painted earlier to be able to complete it.

plein air painting of  icebreaker U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star"  at Garden Island by artist Jane Bennett
On my easel is my half finished panoramic painting of
'U.S. Coastguard Cutter "Polar Star" at Garden Island'
 2014 oil on canvas 30 x 153cm
Enquiries
                          

















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Sunday 5 January 2014

Hammerhead Crane, Garden Island

Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting painting the Hammerhead Crane
on Garden Island
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The Hammerhead Crane on Garden Island was built between 1944- 1951.
Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
It was still, at the time of this painting, the largest dockside crane in Australia, and one of only 15 still standing around the world.
Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Soon there will be only 14, as Sydney's Hammerhead Crane has not been used since 1996 and will soon be demolished.
Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett





















I've been trying to get access to paint the Hammerhead Crane from Garden Island for over 2 years.
After a longer than usual struggle with bureaucracy, I finally gained permission to paint there during the Navy "Rap" period.
No hiphop is involved with the Navy's "Rap"- it's apparently an acronym for reduced activity over the Christmas holiday period.
Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
As the sky became more overcast, I decided to repaint the background for a more dramatic effect.
Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett























I think about these structures as a paleontologist regards fossils as once living organisms, and to understand them in that light.
The specimens paleontologists collect are not the living creatures but the few skeletons and fragments that have had the good fortune to survive the lottery of decay and fossilization and come out on the other side as beautiful relics.
The sites I paint are usually relics.

Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
My vantage point for my first painting of the Hammerhead Crane on Garden Island is from the Fitting out Wharf, just to the north of the crane.
I have often painted the Hammerhead Crane from Mrs Macquarie's Chair and the Woolloomooloo Fingerwharf opposite. From these viewpoints, the Hammerhead Crane looked like an leftover Meccano toy.
However now I am almost directly beneath it, I feel overwhelmed by the power and scale of this immense crane looming over me.
The mass of scaffolding unfortunately obscures much of the original structure, while fortunately also preventing it from dropping rusty remnants on my head from a great height.
The contractors will have to construct a temporary crane next to the Hammerhead, which will take several weeks.
The demolition process might take the better part of a year from start to finish, so there will be time to paint many more canvases.
Plein air painting of the Hammerhead Crane before its demolition at Garden Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
"Hammerhead Crane from the
Fitting Out Wharf, Garden Island "
2014 oil on canvas 61 x 51cm
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Several of my paintings and drawings of the Hammerhead Crane have won multiple art awards.
I exhibited my series of paintings and drawings of the Hammerhead Crane at my solo exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery "Under the Hammer" 18th November - 7th December 2014.

More paintings with a naval theme
Painting the International Fleet Review at Barangaroo Part 2

Painting the International Fleet Review at Barangaroo

Painting 'Spirit of Tasmania' in Garden Island Drydock