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 Jacksons Landing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacksons Landing. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 July 2020

In the pink -the former Pyrmont Arms Hotel, Harris Street Pyrmont

The former pub 'The Pyrmont Arms' was at 42-44 Harris Street, Pyrmont on the corner of Harris and Bowman Streets.
Built in the 1870s,it closed in the early 1990s when the CSR refinery and distillery were progressively shut down and demolished to make way for the Jackson's landing development. Since then, it has been renovated as retail outlets, restaurants and home units.

P248 The 'Pyrmont Arms' from the CSR 1
1990 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
I first painted the Pyrmont Arms Hotel as a bird's eye view from the roof of the CSR refinery.I had been the 'Artist in Residence' at the CSR Refinery from the late 1980s to the start of its demolition in the mid 1990s. I had previously been painting at the top of the Panhouse, but one day in a fit of bravery I decided to paint from the top of the Boilerhouse next to the chimneys.
The CSR boilerhouse is now the site of the 'Elizabeth' apartment block of the Jackson's Landing LendLease development.
The Pyrmont Arms Hotel was then still an operating pub and was painted a grubby faded pale pinkish beige. On the back of the pub's western side facing the Scott Street squats, there was a huge ad for 'Have a cold gold KB', unfortunately not visible from my rooftop studio. Across the road was the brick facade of the CSR chem labs.
It didn't stand out from the rest of the rather dingy terraces at the 'Land's End' of Harris street, but what caught my eye was the contrast between the terraces and the overgrown area around the squats that was rapidly turning into a wilderness. I painted a small square canvas focussing on just the Pyrmont Arms, and resolved one day to paint a panorama of the northern end of Harris Street from this vantage point.

P249 'Pyrmont panorama- from the CSR '
1991 oil on canvas 46 x 92cm
A few months later, I climbed the many levels of revolting, sugar syrup encrusted stairs to the top of the CSR boilerhouse again, to paint this panorama, and was startled to find that the formerly almost unnoticeable pub had succumbed to a brash attempt at 'renovation'.
Weirdly, it shared the same revolting shade of pink with another dying pub at the other end of Pyrmont, the 'New York Hotel' in Edward Street, opposite the Pyrmont Power Station.
This fluoro paint job was such a product of its time that it defined the late 1980s to 1990s, a period without style or taste. I remember leggings and jumpers in that same fabulously horrid "glow in the dark" colour, possibly an over-reaction against the ochres and browns of the 1970s. In architecture, it was known not very fondly as "Paddington Pink" or "Paddo pink" for short, although the examples in Paddington itself were much more muted.

P248B 'The 'Pyrmont Arms' from the CSR 2'
1991 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
It made the Pyrmont Arms stick out like a sore thumb from the dingy red brick warehouses and bond stores, and not in a good way.
I don't know if it was still an operating pub then or whether the new paint job was a desperate last ditch attempt to attract customers or preparation for its sale and possible redevelopment.
For the truth was that the pubs of Pyrmont were hanging by a thread. Their customers were gone with the destruction or relocation of the local industries that had employed them, and the industries of Pyrmont's future were yet to replace them.
The CSR Refinery and Distillery, which had replaced the sandstone quarrymen of northern Pyrmont a century before, was almost deserted and would be demolished and replaced with Jackson's Landing by the middle of the decade. But there was a strange interregnum before the new apartments were built and filled with inhabitants, and the northern end of Harris Street was a ghost town.
The iconic Terminus Hotel, only 2 blocks further up Harris Street, had already ceased trading a decade before, and stood abandoned, neglected and a constant source of speculation for the next 30 years, before its very recent renovation. How the 'Royal Pacific', later to be rechristened the 'Pyrmont Point'/ 'Point Hotel', ever kept on trading is a much bigger mystery that any of the urban myths swirling around the 30 year vacancy of the Terminus.
What is it with the lurid colour schemes inflicted on moribund pubs?
Far from Pyrmont, another doomed hotel, the 'Jolly Frog' also got the pink treatment not long before it suffered one of those mysterious fires that afflict abandoned buildings.
They must have used the same colourblind painter and decorator. And he must have got the paint at a huge discount, or it might have 'fallen off the back of a truck'.
Either way, it didn't work. All closed as pubs not long after.

P248C '42 Harris st -ex Pyrmont Arms'
2012 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
The 'New York Hotel' has been painted a tasteful off-white, and is now a medical centre, of all things!
'The Pyrmont Arms' has now been painted a dull blue on the ground floor and a muted yellow for the upper floors. It is no longer a hotel, but has been reasonably sympathetically renovated and is now a combination of apartments above and a bottle-o below.
And the Jolly Frog, 6 years after its devastating fire, is still awaiting redevelopment.

Related Posts







Sunday 20 August 2017

Terminus Indeterminate

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm

The Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris St, Pyrmont is being renovated after over 20 years of not so benign neglect as part of the Wakil's collection of derelict inner city buildings.
The former poster child of urban decay has fallen to the inexorable tide of gentrification. It won't be totally obliterated as so many unfortunate heritage icons all over Sydney have been.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available
Enquiries
Hopefully as much as possible of its quirky heritage will be retained, but at this stage it is difficult to predict the outcome, as so much depends on the personal taste of the developers, architects and designers.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

The cantilevered rusty steel awning has just been stripped down to a skeletal framework. It matches the bare branches of the tree on the corner of John and Harris St opposite the old bakery.
I don't know if the awning will be removed or restored.
Usually I paint the Terminus from the other side of Harris St, to pair it with its rival pub, the Pyrmont Point (aka 'the Royal Pacific). However, one of its most distinctive characteristics, the distinctive parapet skyline, a key feature of Federation Free Style architecture is best displayed from the John st vantage point.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

Some tendrils of the Virginia creeper that once covered most of its facade still cling to the top. It was possibly the only thing binding all the bricks together.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available
Enquiries
The creeper is usually (and wrongly) known as 'ivy', however ivy doesn't change to russet tones in autumn, or drop its leaves for winter.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

The same creeper also covers much of the facade of the CSR manager's house further south down Harris St. An entire courtyard in the CSR refinery used to resemble a jungle.
Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

Long before 'green walls' became fashionable decor, the south facade of the building now rather bizarrely known as the 'Rum Store' was entirely covered in Virginia creeper from floor to ceiling.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

I've always wondered whether the Virginia creeper so prevalent in the Pyrmont of the last part of the 20th century had been planted by the same shade craving person.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

I'm glad that I took the opportunity to capture this moment. This is possibly the last time the Terminus will be in anything resembling its original state or composed of its original materials.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

It won't be very long before the Terminus is boarded up to undergo the sort of serious structural alterations that will be required for its reinvention.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel',
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available

It's unknown at this stage whether the famous ghost sign on Harris St will be retained, as it is painted on the original brickwork.

Plein air oil painting of the renovation of the Terminus Hotel corner of John and Harris Street Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a new canvas of the 'Terminus Hotel'
2017 oil on canvas 56 x 76cm
Available 
For more information about the Terminus and Pyrmont Point Hotels

Monday 16 May 2016

Pretty vacant

The Terminus Hotel has been sold at last.
I've heard that the new owners intend to relaunch it as a boutique hotel, over 30 years after it last traded. The Pyrmont Point Hotel will finally have its old competition back.
The 'For Sale' sign is still perched on its awning, so I thought that I would paint a few canvases before the renovations start in earnest.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
I'll be curious to see how this poster-child for urban decay will look after renovation.
The vines covering most of the northern facade of the Terminus, which add to its 'Miss Havisham' air, will probably have to be removed.
The vines are actually Virginia creeper, not ivy, as is commonly stated.
The old late Victorian mansion behind the Harris street tennis courts, which used to belong to the CSR Refinery Manager, has a similar covering of Virginia creeper. The 'Rum Store' of the former CSR Refinery, and current Jacksons Landing development, used to also be completely covered in this spectacular vine.
I particularly love painting the Terminus Hotel in late autumn, as the Virginia creeper is changing colour from lime green to burgundy over the burnt orange Federation brickwork.
Burgundy, claret and wine colours seem appropriate to an old hotel.
This might be the last autumn to paint the vines.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
Available
The legs of the Anzac Bridge straddle the end of John street. It is easier to see in autumn, as the plane trees are losing the leaves which obscured them.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
During the demolition decade of the 1990s many Pyrmont hotels stopped trading : the New York in Edward Street, the Pyrmont Arms at 42 Harris Street, the pub on the corner of Mount and John street. These are now, respectively, a medical centre; apartments above a bottle shop and yet more apartments.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
Available
Other attractive heritage buildings and quirky industries disappeared without trace. Nobody really remembers much about what happened to them. The Terminus seemed to always have had an intangible charisma that set it apart from the rest. Why, out of all of these neglected and forgotten buildings did the Terminus alone become a legend?
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
How any of the pubs except the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel survived the Pyrmont diaspora decade of the mid 1980s - late 1990s is possibly the greatest mystery of all.
One reason it was so hard to pin down when the Terminus was finally shut is that by the end of the 80s, Pyrmont in the daytime was nearly deserted.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
The industries that provided the customers for the traditional 'early opener' pubs were winding down and moving out. The last sugar ship left in 1991 or 1992; the CSR were winding down their operations and had only a skeleton staff; Pier 19, 20 21 had almost ceased to be a working wharf ; the cruise ships stopped coming to Pier 13 by 1992.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air nocturne oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
The Royal Pacific was seriously down at heel and unless a few familiar faces were drinking there I would feel a bit ill at ease walking around there late at night as there was sometimes a fairly dodgy looking crowd there and some of the locals would say quite flatly that it used to be full of gangsters. The Terminus seemed to be mostly full of boxers & bikies, so, take your pick!
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
By the early 1990s both places seemed very quiet, day or night, so it was hard to pin down exactly when the Terminus had shut.
Plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel, corner of John and Harris street painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting a plein air oil painting of the Terminus Hotel,
corner of Harris and John streets, Pyrmont.
You can still see the 'ghost sign' saying 'Royal Pacific' on the eastern facade of the Pyrmont Point Hotel.

City's mysteries up for sale (smh.com.au)

For more information about the Terminus and Pyrmont Point Hotels see My Pyrmont page in this blog


Sunday 2 June 2013

Not the Writers Festival- Exhibition of Pyrmont Paintings by Jane Bennett at 2013 Pyrmont Festival

I exhibited these historic paintings of Pyrmont at the 2013 Pyrmont festival in conjunction with the Frances Keevil Gallery
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival in Pirrama Park
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival





















The weather couldn't have been better for the 2013 Pyrmont Festival. A couple of the calmest, sunniest autumn days I've ever experienced in Sydney.
This festival is held on the former Water-Police site, where I used to have several studios during the late 1980s - mid 1990s.
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival in Pirrama Park
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival





















This time the festival in Pirrama Park was for the whole weekend, which gave many more people a chance to see my exhibition.
 I had brought 55 paintings on canvas and board for the exhibition. The largest was the 61 x 183cm canvas of a panorama of "Union Square" and the smallest was a tiny canvas of a strange little sign on top of the former F.L. Barker/Waite and Bull woolstore on the corner of Pyrmont Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road.
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival in Pirrama Park
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival
contact me



















This year I had written 2 small booklets about my paintings and drawings of Pyrmont. The text was partly based on some of the posts in this blog.
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival in Pirrama Park
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival
I printed some prototype copies as an experiment, intending to display them at the festival. I partly wanted people to be able to read the text as, even with the help given to me by  my gallerist Frances Keevil I can't always manage to talk to everyone who wants to know something about a particular painting. My other goal was to get some feedback. 
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival in Pirrama Park
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival

One of these booklets, "Pyrmont - Shadows of the Past" was about my charcoal, ink and gouache drawings of Pyrmont  in a simple, classic black and white format. 
The other booklet "Pyrmont Paintings" displayed the paintings to great advantage on a dark blue background. but unfortunately this choice made the black text almost invisible. The printer service had offered a very limited choice of templates, fonts and colours. I had used them because I had been flat out painting and exhibiting since the beginning of this year and had very little time or energy left to prepare for the Pyrmont Festival. The booklets were an afterthought. I wrote and designed them both in a single day to meet the deadline for a discount printing deal.
In a way, this was good. I have a tendency to perfectionism, and faced with limitless choice and no deadline I can become paralyzed with fear. I thought that I needed to write something, anything at all, however lame, and then improve it.
I wasn't actually intending to sell them at all. I gave copies to the people who bought paintings, or were seriously interested in purchasing. I also gave a couple to the gallery so that we could . I was stunned at the number of people who flatly insisted on paying $10, $12, $15 or even $20 for a booklet! I tried to insist that they were free, as they were just experiments. Apart from a misplaced comma and a couple of oddly proportioned margins the black and white booklet looked very elegant, but the beautiful blue background of the painting book had unfortunately made the writing completely illegible and there were a couple of font discrepancies. Trying to finish the 2nd booklet by the midnight deadline had nearly sent me cross-eyed.
I pointed out the errors, but it didn't seem to faze anyone; they still insisted on paying for them! 
We sold over 50 booklets, and we weren't actually even trying to sell them at all!
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival in Pirrama Park
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival
contact me



















I only have one of each left now, and I'd better hang on to them as I'd like to have them in front of me when I finally sit down with the gallery's designer and plan a better publication.
So, it's not yet the Writer's Festival, and I'm not an author.
However the reaction has given me a great deal of confidence. People have been nagging me for years to write about my paintings, but now I know that they are serious.
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival in Pirrama Park
"Decisions, decisions... which one should I buy?"
Exhibition of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
at the 2013 Pyrmont Festival






















As well as my unexpected excursion into literature, it was a very interesting and successful event on a number of different levels.
I reconnected with lots of people who once lived or worked in Pyrmont as well as many of the new residents of Jacksons Landing and the apartments on top of Pyrmont Point.
There were several sales and I am now preparing to paint an extremely large and prestigious commission resulting from a contact made on these 2 days.
Paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett in Pirrama Park

Friday 5 October 2012

Under the Bridge

Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Starting my painting commission at dawn,
under the Anzac Bridge, looking at Sydney City Marina over to the western side.
'Under the Bridge 1- early morning' oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
The Anzac Bridge has always held a special place in my heart.
Even before I was given the amazing opportunity to paint it from the top, I had painted the progress of the construction of its pylons in the background of many of my Pyrmont paintings during the early-mid 1990s.

Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'Under the Bridge 1- early morning' oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings

Many other people also love this bridge.
Recently I was given a very special commission to paint the Anzac Bridge.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'Under the Bridge 1- early morning' oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings

But not from the top this time.
From underneath.
The "Underbelly".
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
So now I'm painting on the other side of Blackwattle Bay.
Behind me are the dragon boat teams, and beside me are the construction sheds of the people doing maintenance work on the Bridge.
My canvas is 76 x 76cm and has been primed with black acrylic paint to help me gauge the colour values against the glare of the morning sun.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney

I've started to paint in the pale blue morning sky.
The building in the background is "evolve", part of the Jackson's Landing development, which was built on the site formerly occupied by the 'Caneite' building of the CSR Refinery.
The mysterious 'great balls of Pyrmont' which now adorn the park in front of this building were digesters originally used in the Caneite factory to turn sugar cane waste into masonite and similar building products. They still bear the scars of marine worms and barnacles that they accumulated after rolling off the wharf and spending a few years underwater.
One of the men from Waterways Constructions took a fancy to them and fished them out.
Now they are "works of art".
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
6.30am 'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney

The morning sun lights up the Glebe Island silos and the old Glebe Island swing bridge.
At the moment Glebe Island is almost deserted, but soon this will change when they start construction of a new temporary exhibition space while the Darling Harbour space is undergoing refurbishment.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
A promising start 'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings

After 2 hours, the silos and the bow legs of the pylons supporting the Anzac Bridge are starting to take shape. The Anzac Bridge is a beautiful, elegant and supremely functional piece of design, but from certain angles it can sometimes look a bit bandy-legged.
There are several bridges around the world of similar design. I remember walking across a huge version in Rotterdam, and being very surprised when they rang an alarm and people walking across started to scatter to either end. The bridge appeared to 'break' in the middle and a huge container ship moved through the gap in the centre.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
At the end of the first session 'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney

However my first painting session was cut short unexpectedly.
At 8am I got a phone call from the hospital saying that after reviewing some of my mum's blood tests they wanted me to bring her in so that they could operate on her, so I stopped painting and rushed to get her.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Stage 2 Half finished -'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney

During the next painting session, I made sure to paint the green and yellow Devine tug berthed at Sydney City Marina, as I knew it would soon move away.
Next week it was on the other side of the old Glebe Island swing Bridge, so I was lucky to catch it.
To the far left is one of the chimneys of the White Bay Power Station, and on the right are some rotting stumps belonging to the old Glebe island swing Bridge.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Stage 3 Nearly finished -'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings

This painting is nearly finished, but the colour and shadows need a bit of adjusting before I'm happy with it.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Stage 4 Nearly finished -'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney

Almost finished.
I was a bit on edge as I had to make sure that I didn't get locked in with all the dragon boats.There are several clubs but nobody seems to know when the last club will leave. My painting site is hidden by the construction area, so I have to keep checking to see if there are any cars left.
There are lots of different clubs. Some of the rowers say that it will close about 2 - 3pm, and some say as early as 11am.
I don't want to be locked in!
I'm working fast!
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney

I needn't have panicked about being locked in.
The construction guys have promised that if I get locked in they will let me out, and there are constant security patrols.
Tuesday to Thursday mornings there is a boat repair course for unemployed people, so I have a bit more access than I thought I would.
I was worried about completing this commission as I thought that my access would be restricted to very early on Saturday mornings.
As my mum has been so ill, I can't predict when I'll get any free time.
A bit of glazing to add colour highlights and some rose pink early morning clouds will complete the painting.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Stage 2 Half finished -'Under the Bridge 2- storm warning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings

But even though it was so close to being finished, there were a few twists before it was finally complete.
The weather has been variable - sometimes very windy and a couple of wild storms.
One morning I turned up and it was so cloudy that I almost decided to head back home again.
I'm glad I didn't, although I couldn't paint for long before it started raining.
I always take a couple of spare canvases just in case, and luckily I had one the same size as the one for the commission.
The sun crept out from behind the clouds every now and then - playing across the bridge pylons and the last vestiges of the working harbour beneath.
The colours changed the mood so much that I had to start another painting rather than add to the one that I was half way through.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Stage 3 Nearly finished -'Under the Bridge 2- storm warning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Available for sale
Enquiries
Exactly the same time of day as the earlier painting , but the stormy conditions give such a different mood, and a complete change of palette.
One of my favourite paintings is "The Tempest" by Giorgione. I love the sense of foreboding he has created by such simple means - a few clouds, shadows and highlights, and the resulting painting has a mysterious poetry that defies analysis.
Plein air oil painting of the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
'Under the Bridge 2- storm warning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Available for sale
Enquiries

At first I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time to complete my commission - and now I have 2 canvases!
I don't know which canvas my client will choose.
I've emailed both and she's said that I've made it difficult for her - she loves both of them! This is her birthday present to herself, and very important to her, so I wanted her to be very happy with the result.
The big decision is tomorrow.

Update

She finally decided on the early morning painting.