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

Saturday 12 May 2012

Keep your eyes on the prize (and your finger off the trigger)

3 "Highly Commended" Awards in the past 3 days!
One off winning $1,250.
One off winning another $1,250.
And one off winning $5,000.
Don't know whether I should accept congratulations or commiserations.
I hadn't known until I collected my paintings today that I had been awarded two "High Commendations" for my entries in the Camden Art Prize.
I had been awarded the "Highly Commended" for  "The Art of Navigation". This is a memento mori painting of antique navigation instruments, and pays tribute to the famous 18th century navigator La Perouse.

still life oil painting of antique navigation instruments"The Art of Navigation" oil on canvas 75 x 100cm by Artist, Jane Bennett
"The Art of Navigation" oil on canvas 75 x 100cm














Yet another "Highly Commended" in the "Works on Paper" Section for a moody charcoal and ink interior, "The Turbine Hall Of the White Bay Power Station"

charcoal drawing of industrial Heritage"The Turbine Hall Of the White Bay Power Station" 2011 charcoal, pastel and ink on paper 75 x 100cm by Jane Bennett, Artist
"The Turbine Hall Of the White Bay Power Station"
2011 charcoal, pastel and ink on paper 75 x 100cm
The "Blacksmiths, Eveleigh" ranked first of the five "High Commendations" awarded in the Open Section of the Hunters Hill Art prize, making it the runner-up.

oil painting on canvas  of industrial heritage"The Blacksmiths, Eveleigh Railway Workshops" oil on canvas 91 x 122cm by Artist, Jane Bennett
"The Blacksmiths, Eveleigh Railway Workshops" 
oil on canvas 91 x 122cm
"The Navigator and the King"
The Art of Navigation
New still life paintings of navigation instruments
Inside Out
Power
Time for Safety
The fire within
Eveleigh - Industrial Heritage Artist at Work
Strike while the iron is hot
All fired up
The village smithy (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)
En plein air with street cred (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)

Saturday 5 May 2012

Pyrmont Sandstone - Rock On !

My painting of a partly demolished Pyrmont warehouse is a finalist in the 2012 NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize.
This Exhibition will be held:
Tue 1 May - Thu 31 May 2012
NSW Parliament, Macquarie Street Sydney 8.30 AM - 5.45 PM

Plein air oil painting of the interior of the Cooperage in the CSR Refinery Pyrmont painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett 
'Industrial Cathedral, the Cooperage, C.S.R. Refinery'
oil on canvas 91 x 61cm
FINALIST : Plein Air Painting Prize 2012
This canvas is of a sandstone escarpment seen through the screen of rotting timber beams that once were part of the Cooperage building in the CSR Refinery.
This painting focuses on the mysterious patterns of shadow made by the fall of light. The cavernous space and rows of columns reminded me of the interiors of cathedrals and ruined abbeys.
The wall at the back was the famous butter-yellow Pyrmont sandstone, which has been quarried to decorate the best loved historic Sydney buildings such as the Australian Museum, the Sydney GPO, the University of Sydney.
At sunset the sandstone rock face caught the last rays of light and the derelict warehouse was transformed.
This painting has come full circle. Out of Pyrmont into an Eastern suburbs gallery, back to Pyrmont as part of the 2011 Pyrmont Festival, then to Macquarie St as a finalist in the NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize.
Oddly enough the sandstone wall shown at the back of the painting has made a similar journey as the painting. Some of it has made a triumphant visit to Macquarie Street's heritage showcase of 19th century architecture.
After being sliced and diced like a huge block of cheese by LendLease during the excavation for the McCaffrey's apartments in Jacksons Landing, it then suffered a few years in ignominious limbo, in a stockpiled pyramid under the no-man's land under the Anzac Bridge .
Ironically it came from the former "Paradise Quarry" so it should have been spared limbo.
Now these blocks are having a glorious afterlife being lovingly reshaped by master stonemasons in the Alexandria yards, to adorn the classic façades of Sydney's most beautiful buildings.
Some appropriate graffiti from one of the onsite port-a-loos during the re-opening of the quarry - "Sandstone Rocks!"
Totally.
 
Plein air oil painting of carved yellowblock sandstone gargoyle on the roof of Maclaurin Hall,Sydney University painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

















 

U230 'Gargoyle, University of Sydney' 2009
oil on board 25 x 20cm
This alarming little creature is one of the refurbished gargoyles hanging off one of the spires of the University of Sydney. He was carved from the sandstone extracted from the Jacksons Landing excavations, possibly even from the escarpment I painted in the background of "Industrial Cathedral".
The MacLaurin Hall is an important piece of heritage of the University Quadrangle Building. Designed by the Government Architect of the day Walter Liberty Vernon it was constructed in 1911 as the Fisher Library ,which was later relocated in 1963.
In October 2007, the University began conservation work on the façade of MacLaurin Hall. This included work on the sandstone walls, bosses, windows and gargoyles. They were treated with a poultice to remove salt; the poultice was left on for 10 days or until it fell off, and then re-applied to ensure the salt was removed.
Before this treatment, some of the gargoyles had shown signs of splitting and falling. As the original gargoyles crumbled they therefore had to be replaced or extensively refurbished so that they wouldn't fall on people's heads from a great height.
Imagine one of those landing on your head!
Must be one of those Legendary "drop bears".