(A total lack of) Art and Coffee on the Rocks!

I've just been appointed as the inaugural Artfiles Artist In Residence at The Rocks Pop Up Project.
As Artist in Residence, I will be on or painting close by around the site from Wednesday to Sunday for the next 4 weeks. Tomorrow I'm going to check out my new space at 47 George St, which used to be an old Westpac Bank office. This project features an eclectic mix of creatives over at 47 and 77 George St, the Rocks. Gaffa, Red Room Company, artists, fashion designers, jewellery makers and even a tailor are just some of the residents breathing new life into the previously empty spaces.
I will take my French Box easel, turn up at a nearby location very early in the morning and create small, quick plein air paintings in and around the Rocks, Walsh Bay Wharves and Barangaroo.
Then later in the day I would be able to work these small pieces up into studio paintings at leisure in the studio space at 47 George St.
I could paint a large scale painting in front of the public, not only providing them with a source of entertainment and information but a chance to communicate, so that it is a “two-way street”. Most people have never seen an artist at work and find it quite fascinating to watch. As a ‘plein air painter’ I am a seasoned practitioner of an almost lost craft. Most of my work, including large scale canvases, not just sketches, has been painted in front of the public, whether workers or casual onlookers. It has been a major part of my normal artistic practice to do so for nearly 30 years, so I'm used to coping with distractions, interruptions and horrible weather. This is an opportunity for people to watch the creative process at work, ask questions and make comments without feeling intimidated by a gallery atmosphere. My subject matter is limitless : The surroundings - Heritage buildings, colourful and disreputable old pubs like the 'Hero of Waterloo', 'The Orient' and the 'Lord Nelson', ferries and water taxis, the cruise ships arriving and departing from the OPT. The people -Rocks residents, the bustle of the markets, shop owners, storekeepers and buskers.My first real "taste" of my new studio, both literally and metaphorically, will be on Sunday 31st July, whilst indulging in coffee from around the world at Australia’s largest coffee event, the Rocks Aroma Festival.
Update

Well that was the plan.

I have been bullied and harassed by the SHFA goon squad of Rangers so badly that I am removing all my belongings from the 'studio' and will never return.

I previously wrote

This is an opportunity for people to watch the creative process at work, ask questions and make comments without feeling intimidated by a gallery atmosphere. Well I have been the one to be intimidated.
The Rocks is no longer a place for an artist.
And if you are creative in public you will be treated like a criminal.

I had never attended the Rocks Aroma festival before.

I will make damn sure that I will never be silly enough to do so again.

Painting the Shirley Smith at Moores Wharf

Although I’d been Artist in Residence’ at the East Darling Harbour Wharves, and even in the Harbour Control Tower for almost a decade, it wasn’t until July 2011 that I was invited to become Artist in Residence’ at Moore’s Wharf, the Sydney HQ of Sydney Ports Corporation.

MW 1'Cleaning the boom in front of the 'Shirley Smith'
2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
Available for sale
The East Darling Harbour Wharves finally closed in October 2007.
I managed to keep access to the wharves during the demolition of the wharves & even during the early stages of the construction on Barangaroo.
I even retained occasional access to the Harbour Control Tower after April 2011 when it ceased to be used for maritime operations by Sydney Ports Corporation.

MW 1'Cleaning the boom in front of the 'Shirley Smith'
2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
Available for sale
Moore’s Wharf is a handsome 3 storey sandstone warehouse that was originally built in the 1830s by convict labour.
There are still some convict marks, such as arrows on some of the sandstone blocks which were quarried locally.
The surrounding suburb, Millers Point, is built on a ridge of yellowblock sandstone that is of high quality, although not quite up to the standard of the famous Pyrmont yellowblock.
Bizarrely, the entire building was moved stone by stone, a few hundred metres to its existing position, when the adjoining wharves were extended and redeveloped for containerization.

MW 1'Cleaning the boom in front of the 'Shirley Smith'
2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
Available for sale
In front of Moore’s Wharf, Sydney Ports Corporation has two highly visible, verging on garish, bright scarlet and yellow firefighting tugs, the ‘Shirley Smith’, and the ‘Ted Noffs’. They are part of a fleet of emergency response vessels and specialised equipment used for fire-fighting, oil spill response, salvage and providing assistance to stricken vessels.
The marine operations teams work closely with Fire and Rescue NSW to prepare for fighting fires which may not be accessible to the fire teams by land.


MW 1'Cleaning the boom in front of the 'Shirley Smith'
2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm

Available for sale
You can see the crew in the background next to the Shirley Smith.
The weird crumpled red and black object, that looks slightly like a giant version of the sort of caterpillars found on citrus trees is a boom to enclose oil spills and similar hazards. Booms are kept near the boat, so they can be rapidly deployed. My first painting as ‘Artist in Residence’ at Moores Wharf was of a classic everyday task - the marine operations team cleaning one of the recently deployed booms.

MW 1'Cleaning the boom in front of the 'Shirley Smith'
2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
Available for sale

Shirley Smith was built in 1987 and normally based in Port Jackson, whereas the ‘Ted Noffs’ is usually stationed at Port Botany, although occasionally both are there when I've been painting. They are manned 24/7, 365 days a year. They each have a capacity for delivering 16,000 litres of water per minute. As well as emergency response to fires, this water spray is also used for spectacular displays during celebrations such as New Year’s Eve, and to welcome the ‘maiden call’ of a ship into Port Jackson.
The tug was named in honour of Shirley Smith (Mum Shirl), an Aboriginal woman who dedicated her life to welfare services.


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Starting a new and very large canvas
at the front of the White Bay Power Station
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This canvas is 102 x 152cm, which is at the upper end of what the French box easel can safely handle. Fortunately today is sunny and quite still, as even a small breeze can make painting a canvas this size 'en plein air' a nightmare.

Starting a new and very large canvas
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I've primed the canvas black as it's a good backdrop to intensify the colour of the rusting metal sheeting.

Starting a new and very large canvas
at the front of the White Bay Power Station
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I'm trying to paint this canvas from the back to the front to increase the 3D effect. I painted the sky first, so the Power Station appears as a silhouette.

Starting a new and very large canvas
at the front of the White Bay Power Station
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Starting a new and very large canvas
at the front of the White Bay Power Station
Sold
Enquiries about other paintings of White Bay Power Station

Starting a new and very large canvas
 at the front of the White Bay Power Station
Sold
Enquiries about other paintings of White Bay Power Station

Starting a new and very large canvas
at the front of the White Bay Power Station
Sold
Enquiries about other paintings of White Bay Power Station

Starting a new and very large canvas
at the front of the White Bay Power Station
Sold
Enquiries about other paintings of White Bay Power Station

Starting a new and very large canvas
at the front of the White Bay Power Station
- at the end of my first day of painting
Sold
Enquiries about other paintings of White Bay Power Station

Sunset comes all too quickly in midwinter. The White Bay Power Station briefly turns golden in the last rays of the setting sun.
By the time I've packed up my easel, night has already fallen, making it even more difficult to put my large and very wet canvas into the back of my car without smearing it.

Also see my page in this blog :

White Bay Hotel/White Bay Power Station Paintings

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Work in progress on the easel
"Inside the Boiler House of White Bay Power Station"
2011 oil on board 51 x 25cm
Enquiries about paintings of White Bay Power Station
As 'Artist in Residence', I'm painting the chimney stacks from inside the Boiler House of the White Bay Power Station.
It's so dark inside that it is difficult to take photos and I've never really learned how to use the flash properly.

Work in progress on the easel
"Inside the Boiler House of White Bay Power Station"
2011 oil on board 51 x 25cm
Enquiries about paintings of White Bay Power Station
Painting inside the Boiler House is a strange experience.
I balanced the exterior space revealed by the open rusting door with the muted light coming through the window.
Under the window, sheets of rusting corrugated iron are also letting in some light as they are disintegrating at the edges and pierced with holes.
The parallel vertical lines of the window sheeting contrast with the horizontal pattern of the iron. The severe geometry is interrupted by a mad little squiggle of barbed wire perches on top of the corrugated iron sheeting with a baroque flourish.

"Inside the Boiler House of White Bay Power Station"
2011 oil on board 51 x 25cm
Enquiries about paintings of White Bay Power Station
The White Bay Power Station has had many strange uses in its time.
After its official closure in the early 1980s, it had a strange afterlife as the site of mysterious scientific experiments for several years. There was a joint venture between the CSIRO and the University of Sydney and possibly other entities. I don't know exactly what it was all about, but it involved the use of thegiant turbines in the now defunct Turbine Hall. 3 out of 4 of them have since been removed, hopefully after the experiments came to a satisfactory conclusion.
This vast cavernous room is now about absence rather than presence.

WBPS82 'Interior of Boiler House White Bay Power Station'
2016 ink charcoal gouache on paper 106 x 121cm
Enquiries about paintings of White Bay Power Station
It does, however, rejoice in the world's largest fishbone fern which reaches through the infinite void towards the floor from the parrot beak of one of the huge coal hoppers.
It's a bit hard to tell which way up this huge drawing should be. It's sort of reverse vertigo - I feel dizzy from looking up, rather than down!
In later years the interior has frequently been used as a location for films, especially science fiction - the 'Matrix' especially springs to mind.
I know exactly what the future is going to look like - the interior of the White Bay Power Station!
The real future of the White Bay Power Station itself is as yet unknown. It is in limbo, waiting for a purpose, in search of another afterlife.


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Back to front Many local artists have painted the front facade of White Bay Power Station, but very few people have had access to the back or the interior, except on the rare open days.

Painting at the back of the White Bay Power Station

"White Bay Power Station from the back"

2011 oil on canvas 61 x 31 cm

Enquiries

So this is a post about the hidden side of the White Bay Power Station.
Beside the closest chimney nestle some rows of old sandstone blocks.

They are leftovers from the alteration of the approaches to the old Pyrmont bridge.

The old Pyrmont Bridge was closed to all but pedestrian traffic by about 1979, as a prelude to the redevelopment of Darling Harbour from a railway goods yard to the its current state of a soul-less and seedy tourist trap and entertainment precinct.

Painting at the back of the White Bay Power Station

"White Bay Power Station from the back"

2011 oil on canvas 61 x 31 cm

Enquiries

Sunset at the back of the White Bay Power Station. It was a sunny day, but the wind chill and sitting in the gigantic shadow cast by the Boilerhouse made this a three tracksuit day. I had to wear so many layers that I could barely move my arms!

The almost finished painting:
"White Bay Power Station from the back"
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 31 cm

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Starting a new canvas on the site of the

now demolished Boiler House 2,

White Bay Power Station, Rozelle, Sydney, NSW

Available for sale

Back in the 1980's, I painted the White Bay Power Station while it was still operational.

In the 1990's, while the Pyrmont Power Station and Balmain Power Station were in the process of being demolished, I returned to the area to paint the Unilever site, the White Bay Hotel and the Goods Yard. While the Anzac Bridge was being constructed, I painted birds-eye views of the site from the summit of the western pylon. In 2000, the ownership of the site passed from Pacific Power to the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA). From 2002 - 2004 I painted exterior views of the Boiler House and monumental interiors of the Turbine Hall, one of which was acquired by the Mitchell Library, State Library of N.S.W. for their collection.

From 2008 I have been painting this magnificent relic from the wharves of Glebe Island and White Bay.

Now I've returned to the site itself as 'Artist in Residence'.

Starting a new canvas on the site of the

now demolished Boiler House 2,

White Bay Power Station, Rozelle, Sydney, NSW

Available for sale

The bright red belongs to some containers which are full of debris from some of SHFA's other sites. Bizarrely, one of these containers has been decorated with paintings of butterflies.

Starting a new canvas on the site of the

now demolished Boiler House 2,

White Bay Power Station, Rozelle, Sydney, NSW

Available for sale

This canvas was painted close to the railway corridor next to the old ash handling yard to the south east of the site.

I have chosen to explore the slightly less glamorous aspect of the site as the first paintings of my long awaited return to the site, rather than the all too familiar view from Mullens Street.

Every half baked photographer and his dog has an image or two of the iconic chimney stacks from the northern Balmain side. This is scarcely a challenge - far too easy. I know this building very well, inside and out, and have painted it and the surrounding area over the past 3 decades.

My paintings show the White Bay Power Station's subtler charms.

Starting a new canvas on the site of the

now demolished Boiler House 2,

White Bay Power Station, Rozelle, Sydney, NSW

Available for sale

In the foreground is the space where the 2nd Boiler House, built on the southern side in 1927, and demolished from 1975-1976.

Now this space is used for leftover debris from the clearing of Ballast Point, a former Caltex fuel depot, now a public park. I remember painting some of these relics on location at Ballast Point before its transformation in 2004-5.

Starting a new canvas on the site of the

now demolished Boiler House 2,

White Bay Power Station, Rozelle, Sydney, NSW

Available for sale

The imposing facade, even from the back has a stern grandeur and dignity found in castles and forts.

The dramatic shadow cast by this monolith is occasionally broken by glints of sunlight that touch weeds now infesting the vacant upper south yard, once home to the White Bay Hotel which finally succumbed to a mysterious fire in 2009.

"White Bay Power Station from the back 1" 2011
oil on canvas 46 x 61cm
Available for sale

"White Bay Power Station from the back 2" 2011
oil on canvas 46 x 61cm
Available for sale

Also see my page in this blog :

White Bay Hotel/White Bay Power Station Paintings

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