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 art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

Friday 26 June 2020

Royal Edward Victualling Yards (REVY), Darling Island, Pyrmont

Today's painting on the deck shows a small panorama of Sydney Harbour with a cargo ship berthed at the East Darling Harbour Wharves in the background. The strange looking building in the centre surrounded by piles of timber is the REVY C building on Darling Island. I painted it in the early 1990s from Ways Terrace.
Plein air oil painting of East Darling Harbour Wharves, Sydney Harbour and REVY, Darling Island in Pyrmont  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett







 
 
 
P8'REVY C from Ways Terrace'
1992 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
On Darling Island, nothing is now left of the timber and shipbuilding yards. Today the water’s edge bristles with new apartment blocks gazing over sheltered waters. Yet beneath the silvery surface lies a hidden history.
The Royal Edward Victualling Yard, ( REVY A,B & C), was built between 1890 and 1911, by the revered Government architect Walter Liberty Vernon in the Federation Free style.
They were some of the last working buildings on the Pyrmont waterfront and had rivettingly odd architecture. Revy A and B  consisted of a 5 storey and a 6 storey pair of large red brick warehouses set at right angles to each other and linked by a square central  water reservoir tower. They were built in a flamboyant neo-Gothic style which reminded me irresistibly of the Bargello in Florence.
Plein air oil painting of East Darling Harbour Wharves, Sydney Harbour and REVY, Darling Island in Pyrmont  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
P8'REVY C from Ways Terrace'
1992 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Revy C is a narrow, skinny, rather ungainly eight-storey, red brick Federation Warehouse, and still the tallest structure on Darling Island.  It had a rusticated ashlar bluestone ground floor, and a riveted truss jib crane facing Jones Bay Wharf. Its 4 large lift towers on the roof always reminded me of the crenellations on top of medieval castles.
Early fire fighting relied on steam pumped water pressure which could only reach up to a maximum of 2 storeys. So the set of external steel fire stairs at either end were a very practical solution to this problem, even though I used to curse them for being a perspective nightmare to paint.
Plein air oil painting of East Darling Harbour Wharves, Sydney Harbour and REVY, Darling Island in Pyrmont  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett


 







 
P12B REVY 3 from Jones Bay Wharf with 'Nederburg'
1990 oil on canvas 25 x 51 cm
SOLD
Enquiries about other paintings of Darling Island

Revy's original purpose became obsolete due to the increasing size of cargo ships and the introduction of container shipping.
The painting above shows the 'Nederburg' one of the last cargo ships docking at the Pier 19/20/21 (now known as Jones Bay Wharf) opposite Revy C.
During the 1980s REVY C was remodelled for the Defence Science and Technology Organization.
Plein air oil painting of East Darling Harbour Wharves, Sydney Harbour and REVY, Darling Island in Pyrmont  painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett














P12 REVY from Jones Bay Road
1990 oil on paper 25.5 x 31 cm

Available for sale
This small oil study shows the timber yard on the other side to the previous painting.
In 1994, REVY A and B were renovated for Naval Support Command , and I was commissioned to paint 3 huge paintings for their foyer.
They could be seen from Jones Bay Road until 2005 when Channel 7 moved in. Now these paintings are on Spectacle Island, where unfortunately they can't be seen by the public.
REVY C was vacant from 2005 until its recent redevelopment for apartments.
 
Related Posts 
 
 
 

Wednesday 24 June 2020

Blacksmith forging in the Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh Railway Workshops

Today's painting on my isolation deck gallery is of one of the blacksmiths in Bay 1/2 of the Locomotive Workshops, South Eveleigh, Eveleigh Railway Workshops.

Plein air oil painting of blacksmith in the Eveleigh Railway Workshops painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
E93 Blacksmith quenching chisels,
Eveleigh Railway Workshops 2011
oil on canvas 152 x 122cm

This canvas is so large that parts of it are obscured by the railing and roof of my pergola.
However, I did paint it from life - nervously trying to keep my oil paint and turps out of the way of the blacksmiths who were swiftly carrying red-hot metre long metal chisels from the forge and quenching them in a vat of boiling oil!
As you do!

Plein air oil painting of blacksmith in the Eveleigh Railway Workshops painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
E93 Blacksmith quenching chisels,
Eveleigh Railway Workshops 2011
oil on canvas 152 x 122cm



More recently, Matthew Mewburn of 'Eveleigh Works' has taken over this important and historically significant task.
The posts below include the stages of these paintings as works in progress on the easel, and some photos from several Open Days at the Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh Railway Workshops.

Irons in the fire
Watching the forge fires fade
Playing with fire
Macdonaldtown - A Station without a suburb
Strike while the iron is hot
Eveleigh- Industrial Heritage Artist at Work
 Eveleigh paintings
The village smithy (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)
Time for Safety 
The slow return from the fire 
The fire within 
En plein air with street cred (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)

Saturday 20 June 2020

In the shadow of the Bridge -Night Observatory Hill

Today's painting on the deck gallery is a nocturne painted from Observatory Hill.
Plein air oil painting of nocturne of the Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Observatory Hill painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
O15 Night, The Rocks from Observatory Hill
2000 oil on canvas 84 x 112cm
Available
I've often painted the Rocks and Millers Point from this vantage point.
When I used to teach art classes, I'd give everyone a map of the best spots to sit so they could avoid having to include the Blues Point Tower!
Plein air oil painting of nocturne of the Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Observatory Hill painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
O15 Night, The Rocks from Observatory Hill
2000 oil on canvas 84 x 112cm
Available

































This view looks straight down Lower Fort Street where I have also frequently painted the heritage terraces, the Garrison church, the Harbourview and 'Hero of Waterloo' hotels.
Some of this collection are on my Miller's Point page in this blog.
It's a postcard perfect Sydney Harbour scene during the day. but at night the shadows make it evocative and mysterious.
The tales from the rowdy and sometimes sinister era of the Rocks 'Push' don't seem to be quite as distant at night!
Plein air oil painting of nocturne of the Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Observatory Hill painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
O15 Night, The Rocks from Observatory Hill
2000 oil on canvas 84 x 112cm

Related Posts

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No Place like home

Tie a yellow Ribbon

Friday 19 June 2020

Sydney Bus Museum - painting Daimler doubledecker

Today's painting on the deck gallery is a portrait of MTT Daimler CGV6 112 at the Sydney Bus Museum in Leichhardt. It has been under restoration to operating condition since 2016.

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm














It's had a rough life.

It was one of 15 Daimler doubledecker chassis ordered for use in Sydney. However they were rejected because their 4.95m chassis didn't meet the required specifications of 5,33m. 
Then they were sold to the Metropolitan Transport Service, Adelaide. The 54 seat bodies were then built in Granville, and driven overland to Adelaide.

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm




After being in service in Adelaide until 1960, no 112 was sold to a cattle station in the Coober Pedy area of South Australia.

In 1990 it was recovered for preservation - and driven over 1,000 miles back to Sydney!

It might have been too small, but it's tough!

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm

I painted this on site in the Bus Museum at Leichhardt, and some of the volunteers are in the background.

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm

  











Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker
2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm


See more of my bus paintings























Monday 29 August 2016

"The Mother Art is Architecture"

"The Mother Art is Architecture" is part of a quote by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The full quotation is  : "The Mother Art is Architecture. Without an Architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization".
I am one of 6 artists, John Waters, Isabelle Devos, Jane Bennett, Stephen Nova, Chris Brown, and Hadyn Wilson currently exhibiting in the group show "The Mother Art is Architecture" at FrancesKeevil Gallery, 28-34 Cross Street Double Bay. Architecture is  the theme; yet each artist takes it in quite different directions.
Almost everything that I have ever painted has either been demolished or changed beyond all recognition: the pubs have been gentrified, working class terraces are now apartment blocks and Sydney is no longer a Working Harbour.
I have spent most of my career painting the loss of Sydney's "soul of civilization".
Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/franklloyd127711.html
Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/franklloyd127711.html
I was "Artist in Residence" at the "Hungry Mile", East Darling Harbour Wharves during its last years as a working port, courtesy of Patrick Stevedores and Sydney Ports Corporation. When I knew that port operations were ending, I used the wharf itself as a studio and gained unprecedented access to every aspect of the activities there. I painted on the wharves, from the bridge of the ships (courtesy of the ship’s captains) and wonderful bird’s eye views from the top of Harbour Control Tower. After the last ship had sailed, I continued my epic series of paintings of Barangaroo, the largest and most controversial Sydney Harbour construction project in living memory.
Plein air oil painting of the Harbour Control Tower by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
MW62 Harbour Tower from Moore's Wharf '
2015 oil on canvas 51 x 41cm


I 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, and afterwards had access to create paintings of various stages of the construction of Barangaroo. I spent many  New Year’s Eves on the top floor, painting 360 degrees of the fireworks exploding underneath against the unforgettable harbour view.
Two major works on paper which I painted from the top of the Harbour Control Tower a couple of years apart, will be featured in this exhibition.
These two large mixed media drawings show the maximum possible contrast between old and new; between heritage and development; between tradition and progress.
One shows views over Barangaroo and the waterfront. The other looks out over Millers Point towards the bridge. A nod to the past - and a look to the future.
The 2 works overlap slightly,  sharing the sweeping curve of the workers terraces of High Street as well as the quirky asymmetry of the old Palisade Hotel in common. They are on the far left hand side of the earlier work, and on the far right hand side of the later work.
ink charcoal gouache drawing on paper of Barangaroo and Millers Point from the Harbour Control Tower  by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
HCT34  'Millers Point and Barangaroo
 from the top of Harbour Tower' 2010
ink acrylic gouache on paper 102 x 125cm
Enquiries
 
 






















By the time of painting the later work, the Palisade had nearly completed its transformation from a down at heel wharfies’ dive into a luxurious upmarket watering hole for the new residents of Barangaroo and Walsh Bay Wharves.
The earliest version of the Palisade was built in the late 1800s, but the Sydney Harbour Trust commissioned Henry Deane Walsh to build a hotel on top of the pub, which was completed in 1915. The Palisade Hotel was literally a landmark as it was the highest building in Sydney at the time. Many diggers sank their last beer at the hotel before they boarded ships bound for the First and Second World War. It was also used as a lodge for workers constructing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Over the years, the hotel has been frequented by many “colourful characters”. There's almost too much history in the walls.
Atop Millers Point, high above the harbour, the old Palisade Hotel sat forlorn for 7 years from the end of World Youth Day in 2008 until its reopening in August 2015, just in time for its centenary.  It had been closed in 2008 for an renovation by the then owner and sold at auction in March 2015 for about $20 million. Now the new owners have given it a $5 million renovation and reopened the ground-floor public bar.
This large mixed media drawing shows the view looking south from the Harbour Tower. The wharf buildings have just been cleared, revealing a bare expanse of concrete with a few cryptic markings which could either be for vehicles or possibly guidelines for future construction. The white marquee in the centre right of the wharf is the temporary cruise ship terminal. Soon afterwards, it was removed when the new cruise ship terminal at White Bay was opened.
 A faint shadow of the Harbour Tower is cast over a section of the wharf, about to be excavated for the Barangaroo Headland Park, which opened a year ago in August 2015.
The left hand side shows the early 20th century Federation heritage architecture of Millers Point, still at this stage inhabited by the descendants of 5 generations of waterside workers. The staggered walls and gables that serrate the roofline of High Street are groupings of 4 individual flats, rather than individual houses.
Upper flats were divided from lower flats by an ingenious use of panels, to lessen noise and the risk of the spread of fire. Each flat had its own ventilated laundry, bathroom and scullery at the rear to maintain hygienic living conditions.
The lower flats had a courtyard to dry clothes and access to a rear lane for rubbish collection. The upper flats had rooftop drying platforms made of solid hardwood beams, packed tightly side by side and bonded by steel rods. The washing was launched into the air by nifty pulley mechanisms. Brick chutes and concrete tubes allowed rubbish to be dropped to the lane below.   
These humble dwellings were actually cutting edge design solutions to the problems of medium density urban living. They pioneered some of the earliest use of now ubiquitous technology in Sydney housing and incorporate some of the aesthetics and principles of Frank Lloyd Wright, who believed buildings should be made from the land and benefit the environment.
Another famous quote by Frank Lloyd Wright can be used to contrast the modest utility of the workers flats with the pomposity of recent development at Barangaroo : "A building should appear to grow easily from its site and be shaped to harmonize with its surroundings if Nature is manifest there.”
 
ink charcoal gouache drawing on paper of Barangaroo and Millers Point, Walsh Bay Wharves, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Hammerhead Crane from the Harbour Control Tower by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
HCT42 'Vale Millers Point' 2014
 ink acrylic  gouache on paper
106 x 136cm
Enquiries
























This mixed media drawing was one of the last I was able to paint from the top of the Harbour Tower.
It's the quintessential Sydney Harbour view, with a breathtaking panorama of Walsh Bay Wharves and Millers Point below my feet, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.
 I have painted every single building in this canvas from ground level, often from several angles, and met most of the residents and workers, old and new.

Detail of ink charcoal gouache drawing on paper of Barangaroo and Millers Point, Walsh Bay Wharves, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Hammerhead Crane from the Harbour Control Tower by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Detail of protest banners in High Street -

HCT42 'Vale Millers Point' 2014

ink , gouache on paper 106 x 136cm

Enquiries





 


















The heritage architecture of Millers Point is festooned with a few defiant banners protesting against the inevitable eviction of the residents of High Street, Windmill Street, Lower Fort Street and Dalgety Terrace.
Reg Mombassa designed a T-shirt with the logo of a skull smoking a cigar and wearing a top hat, symbolizing the real estate agents and developers now infesting the once sleepy backwater.
A few hang from the rooftop drying platforms in Dalgety Terrace.

ink charcoal gouache drawing on paper of Barangaroo and Millers Point, Walsh Bay Wharves, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Hammerhead Crane from the Harbour Control Tower by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Close up detail of
protest T Shirts in Dalgety Terrace
HCT42 'Vale Millers Point' 2014 
ink acrylic  gouache on paper 106 x 136cm

 

At the time of painting, the Palisade Hotel was soon to be re- opened after 7 years of emptiness. In contrast, the city and Walsh Bay Wharves remain shrouded in darkness. 
In the background, cranes pick at the skeleton of the half demolished Hammerhead Crane on Garden Island. 
Earlier that year I had braved the daunting bureaucracy of the Navy to become the ‘Artist in Residence’ on Garden Island for several months so that I was able to paint the last days of this historic naval relic before it was demolished.
While painting this work, I realized the Harbour Control Tower was under threat of demolition, despite being an iconic landmark. 
The demolition process began in March 2016 and will continue until the end of the year.
Another quote from Frank Lloyd Wright :
“Architecture is life, or at least it is life itself taking form and therefore it is the truest record of life as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived.”