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

My photo
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 Poolya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poolya. Show all posts

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Painting the 'Poolya' at Glebe Island

This was the 60 year old work boat known as the Crane Lighter 'Poolya', up on stumps, waiting forlornly at Glebe Island Wharf.


plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting my canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Enquiries about this painting
Despite being added to the State’s Heritage Register in March 2009 by the then Ports and Waterways Minister Joe Tripodi, here the “Poolya” is waiting to be broken up.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting my canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 

The 'Poolya', formerly known as the 'Kahibah', was built in 1949.
For a long time she was based at Goat Island.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Starting my canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
Enquiries about this painting



















She was one of the vessels deployed to recover oil with her brush skimmer from the notorious 'Laura d'Amato' spill at Gore Cove on Wednesday 4th August 1999.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Half finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
Enquiries about this painting



















I had been painting the renovation of the Walsh Bay Fingerwharves at the time of the Laura d'Amato incident. The smell of the spilt oil was utterly indescribable! I couldn't cope with the fumes and it was one of the few times that I had to go home without finishing my painting. I don't know how the men on board managed to handle it.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Half finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 
Enquiries about this painting



















Until 2012 the 'Poolya' was on standby at Moore's Wharf. 
When she was taken out of service with Sydney Ports Corporation the 'Poolya' was then given to the Sydney Heritage Fleet, who had originally intended to preserve her.
However the "Poolya" is a timber vessel, and all timber vessels are a lot of work. Eventually they get to the stage of requiring significant repair to keep them serviceable. This can rapidly spiral out of control. The 'Poolya', despite being regarded with great affection by the workers from Sydney Ports and the Sydney Heritage Fleet, had become commercially uneconomic.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
Half finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 

Enquiries about this painting
Sydney Ports Corporation have replaced her with a steel hulled vessel of a similar design concept, the 'Manns Point'.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat at Glebe Island by artist Jane Bennett
The finished canvas of
"The 'Poolya' at Glebe Island waiting to be broken up"
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm 

Enquiries about this painting
I was given the heads up by a couple of people at Sydney Ports who had a sentimental attachment to the 'Poolya'.
I arrived at the Glebe Island Operations Centre on Monday about noon and had this medium size canvas finished by the time the blokes wanted to knock off at 5.30pm.
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat near the Sydney Harbour Bridge by artist Jane Bennett
'Poolya' from Moore's Wharf'
2013 oil on canvas 12 x 12cm
Enquiries about similar paintings
Sold
PRIVATE COLLECTION : SYDNEY
I had painted a couple of small canvases of the 'Poolya' in her glory days while she was still operational. A few of these were painted from my loft on the top floor of Sydney Ports Corporation's Emergency Response Headquarters at Moore's Wharf. These canvases usually have a spectacular view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as the historic workboat.
Some of my paintings were in the "tondo" format. A tondo is a canvas stretched over a round or oval stretcher frame.
Some of the Sydney Ports Corporation wharfies would jokingly ask me "When will you be painting another pizza, Jane ?"
plein air oil painting of the 'Poolya' work boat near the Sydney Harbour Bridge by artist Jane Bennett
 'Poolya' from Moore's Wharf'
2013 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
SOLD

PRIVATE COLLECTION : SYDNEY
Enquiries about similar paintings
When the 'Poolya' was broken up, a couple of contractors managed to souvenir the portholes.
So these 2 'Poolya' tondos ended up being framed behind these portholes and are now cherished trophies in some canny collector's living room.

Related posts

Storm warning, Goat Island (barangarooartist.blogspot.com)