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 ex-HMAS Adelaide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ex-HMAS Adelaide. Show all posts

Tuesday 16 June 2020

Isolation Gallery on the deck - Ex HMAS Adelaide on Glebe Island

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, my wings have been clipped.
I'm caring for my elderly and very frail mum at home, so even when restrictions are relaxed, my obligations as a carer mean I'll still be very restricted in the amount of plein air painting I can do.

Oil paintings of 'ex HMAS Adelaide' painted en plein air at Glebe Island Wharf, by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
Paintings on the deck

I've used my enforced downtime to repair old paintings. When canvases are taken to exhibitions and handled a lot they can get scuffed at the edges.
I'd spent the start of the Covid season putting up a pergola over the front deck so it would be a nice breakfast nook. But it's been really useful as.a studio extension as it's sheltered from rain and all but the fiercest winds.
I started putting some large canvases out there to dry after repairs, just to get them out of my way so I don't trip over them.
Down the side of my garden is a walkway to the local park and I noticed a few people staring at the paintings. I did this for a few weeks, but when I didn't have anything on the easel for a couple of days they asked me to put some paintings back up.

Oil paintings of 'ex HMAS Adelaide' painted en plein air at Glebe Island Wharf, by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
A3 Ex HMAS Adelaide late afternoon panorama
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm                            
A25 'ex HMAS Adelaide sinking'
2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51 cm


The galleries are shut, so I thought 'Why not? At least it gets them out of my studio'
Since then I've had a different painting every day on the deck gallery. Sometimes two if they have a connection to each other.
I choose at random - it's a chance to wander through my past.
Enjoy.

Oil painting of 'ex HMAS Adelaide' painted en plein air at Glebe Island Wharf, by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
A3 Ex HMAS Adelaide late afternoon panorama
 2011 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm









This is a sort of before and after pairing.
The Ex HMAS Adelaide on Glebe Island being stripped of most of her interior fittings before scuttling, and a small painting of her scuttling off Terrigal.

Oil paintings of 'ex HMAS Adelaide' painted en plein air being scuttled at Terrigal, by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
A25 'ex HMAS Adelaide sinking'
2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51 cm












See the posts about these paintings
"Two ships in dock"
"Ghost Ship Part 2" 
"Ghost Ship Part 1"

Sunday 6 April 2014

Another one bites the dust

plein air oil painting of heritage terraces in Millers Point by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
Starting a large panorama on Sunday 30th March about 10am
"Harbour Control Tower and Barangaroo
from High Street, Millers Point" 
2014 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Enquiries about this painting :

I have spent most of the past week painting a large panoramic canvas to show the Harbour Control Tower from High Street in Millers Point.

On the far left hand side is a view of the Barangaroo construction site, with giant chunks of recently excavated yellowblock sandstone forming a pseudo-naturalistic cove. 
On the far right hand side, the workers cottages of High Street stare down disapprovingly onto their brash new neighbour. 
In the centre of the picture is the last bastion of the Hungry Mile, the mushroom topped column of the Harbour Control Tower.
plein air oil painting of heritage terraces in Millers Point by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
 Monday 31st March about 1pm
"Harbour Control Tower and Barangaroo
from High Street, Millers Point" 
2014 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Enquiries about this painting :


The Harbour Tower was also jokingly known as ''the Pill" because it "controlled all the berths" in the harbour. According to the National Trust, it should be conserved and reused as it symbolizes more than 200 years of shipping in Sydney.
However, this is an unlikely fate, as the Barangaroo Delivery Authority then bought the concrete, steel and glass structure from Sydney Ports for $2.6 million. 
Despite its unsurpassed 360 degree harbour views, the Harbour Control Tower quite obviously doesn't fit into their vision for Barangaroo, so its days are numbered.
plein air oil painting of heritage terraces in Millers Point by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
Tuesday 1st April about 11am
"Harbour Control Tower and Barangaroo
from High Street, Millers Point"
2014 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Enquiries about this painting :























Sydney Ports once manned it 24/7, but it has not been operational since April 11th 2011, when vessel control services for Sydney Harbour finally moved to Port Botany.

plein air oil painting of heritage terraces in Millers Point by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
 Wednesday 2nd April about 11am
"Harbour Control Tower and Barangaroo
from High Street, Millers Point"
2014 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Enquiries about this painting :






















The tower opened in 1974 to give Harbour Control the best possible views of the harbour to ensure safe passage for thousands of ships each year. The architectural drawings and plans for its construction used to be hung in the foyer of the amenities level, just in front of the lift, until some light fingered wharfie pinched them.

plein air oil painting of the Sydney Harbour Control Tower in Millers Point by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
'Evening Harbour Control Tower
from Moore's Wharf' 2013
oil on canvas 178 x 122cm


























This is my huge canvas painted from my Moore's Wharf studio, showing the last time that the gorgeous sandstone escarpment was completely visible.
It has by now totally disappeared under a layer of scaffolding and the retaining wall for the North Barangaroo Headland Park.
The park will slope from its soi disant naturalistic 1788 coastline up to Clyne Reserve and Merriman street. Obviously the Tower will get short shrift. It is an emblem of another era and different values.
It looks as though Precision Demolition will be getting more work!
I last caught their act at Port Kembla, where they lived up to their name, neatly and precisely dropping the Port Kembla Copper Stack onto the grounds of Port Kembla Copper. Previously I had met them during the saga of the sinking of ex-HMAS Adelaide.
I am surprised, and more than a little concerned, that as the demolition of the Harbour Control Tower was virtually a foregone conclusion, that it wasn't demolished before construction of the headland was so far advanced. However neatly they drop it, it would make a bit of a dent in the painstakingly arranged faux natural headland. Unless they are planning to leave the pieces there as a giant water feature or a Brutalist concrete novelty sundial in the centre of the park. 
It would certainly be a conversation piece.
Or perhaps the charming terraces of Merriman Street are also superfluous to their requirements?
There's no accounting for taste.
oil painting of the interior of Sydney Harbour Control Tower in Millers Point by Jane Bennett, industrial heritage artist
'The Shipping News - Last  view of interior
of Harbour Control Tower '
 2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
Enquiries about this painting :

I had been "Artist in Residence" in the Harbour Control Tower by Sydney Ports Corporation for nearly a decade.
This is the final view of the interior of the top floor. The whiteboard has a list of the very last shipping movements on April the last operational day of the Harbour Control Tower.
The clock has stopped at 10.44am, Tuesday 24th May, and has been left that way.
After the last operational use of the Tower, maintenance staff had to still have access to be able to remove furniture, cables and other equipment. If I arrived early enough, I would be allowed to tag along and do a bit more painting. 
My very last visit was just before its eventual demolition.

Related posts

Monday 22 October 2012

2012 Classic and Wooden Boat Show at the Australian National Maritime Museum

Exhibition at the Australian National Maritime Museum by the Australian Society of Marine Artists

I chose these 3 paintings to display in the exhibition by the Australian Society of Marine Artists in the Tasman Light Room at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
The exhibition was part of the 2012 Classic and Wooden Boat Festival from Friday 12th October - Wednesday 17th October 2012.

oil painting of Walsh Bay Wharves by artist Jane Bennett
"Demolition of Wharf 6/7, Walsh Bay Wharves” 2001  
oil on canvas 61 x 102cm















Enquiries about this painting :

                         
I had painted the demolition of the almost derelict structures of Wharf 6/7, Walsh Bay Wharves from the interior of Wharf 8/9 in 2001. This wharf was later replaced by apartments designed to imitate the genuine wharves. 

oil painting of notorious cargo ship 'Tampa' at Barangaroo by artist Jane Bennett
"The last call of the ‘Tampa’ ”
2007 oil on canvas 31 x 103cm
Enquiries about this painting :

                              
I had been “Artist in Residence” at the Hungry Mile during its last days of port operations.The notorious “Tampa” was the last Ro-ro ( roll on roll off car ship) to berth at the Hungry Mile wharves, now known as “Barangaroo” in late October 2007, marking the effective end of Sydney as a working harbour.

oil painting of controversial ex-HMAS Adelaide' with Anzac Bridge at Glebe Island Wharves by artist Jane Bennett
”Ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe Island Wharf” 
2009 oil on canvas  46 x 92cm
Enquiries about this painting :

                         
I had painted the entire saga of ex HMAS Adelaide from her arrival at Glebe Island Wharf in September 2009 to her scuttling off  the Central Coast on Wednesday April 13th 2011. 
Her interior was stripped to prepare for her reinvention as a dive wreck but this was stopped at literally the last minute by a controversial court case. The ship had to undergo more stringent preparations for another year, until the dawn of April 11th 2011 when she made her last journey to her final resting spot off North Avoca.  

Artist in Residence at the Australian National Maritime Museum


plein air oil painting of Krait by artist Jane Bennett at 2012 Classic and Wooden Boat Festival at Australian National Maritime Museum
Painting the 'Krait' at the 2012
Classic and Wooden Boat Festival
Australian National Maritime Museum.
Oil on canvas 28 x 36cm




 
















I also spent Saturday 13th October and Sunday 14th October next to HMAS Vampire as Artist in Residence giving a demonstration of plein air painting.
In this photo I am starting a small canvas of the 1934 fishing trawler,  Krait, which led a heroic double life during World War II.
In 1941, Krait was used to evacuate people from Singapore to Sumatra during the Japanese advance. Perfectly disguised as a local fishing vessel, in the 1943 Operation Jaywick she was boldly sailed into Japanese-occupied waters with a team of Z Special Unit commandos whose mines blew up and severely damaged 7 enemy ships in Singapore harbour. After the war, Krait worked in the Borneo timber trade, until  two Australians on a business trip recognized her in 1962. Krait then returned to Australia to a hero's welcome, a testament to Australian sacrifice during war.

plein air oil painting of wooden boat by artist Jane Bennett at 2012 Classic and Wooden Boat Festival at Australian National Maritime Museum
Painting the 'Winnie Too' at the
2012 Classic and Wooden Boat Festival
Australian National Maritime Museum.
Oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Enquiries about this painting :






















Later in the day, as a contrast to the stark black hull of Krait, I painted Winnie Too one of the dozens of charming smaller wooden boats on display.
exhibition of oil paintings of tall ships and Pyrmont  by artist Jane Bennett at 2012 Classic and Wooden Boat Festival at Australian National Maritime Museum
My outdoor exhibition at the
2012 Classic and Wooden Boat Festival
Australian National Maritime Museum.




















As there was a handy awning to protect them from the wind and sun I was able to present an outdoor display of some of my other canvases of vessels from the Sydney Heritage Fleet and the Australian National Maritime Museum. The canvases on the easel are of the tall ships James Craig and HMV Endeavour, and the light ship Carpentaria. The smaller works hung from the railings are some of my early Pyrmont paintings, which date from the era before the building of the Australian National Maritime Museum.