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.

Wednesday 8 May 2024

2024 Pyrmont Festival- paintings of Pyrmont, past and present

 

The 12th anniversary of the Pyrmont Festival of Wine Food and Art,
 will be held 11am - 5pm on  Saturday and Sunday 18th and 19th May 2024 in Pirrama Park at the northern end of the Pyrmont Peninsula.  
I'll exhibit a selection of artworks painted 'en plein air' in Pyrmont and Ultimo from the early 1980s  until now. 
Many of the works I'll exhibit were painted within a couple of hundred metres from the Festival site, and many have never been exhibited in public.
A new major work which will be featured is an enormous panorama painted from the James Watkinson Reserve in front of Ways Terrace (aka the Point st Flats)
pleinair oil painting of Sydney Harbour and Barangaroo from Pyrmont by artist Jane Bennett
P800 Sydney Harbour from Pyrmont 2023 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm
On the left of this canvas is Jones Bay Wharf, once home to a motley collection of waterfront industries, & now the upmarket function centre Doltone House. In the background, the controversial Barangaroo Headland Park has replaced the former East Darling Harbour Wharves/Hungry Mile. On the right, the handsome Federation architecture of the Royal Edward Victualling Yards (aka "REVY") still dominates Darling Island, but REVY 3 is now an apartment block, and Google has taken over the former headquarters of the Naval Support Command.  On the road below, the rooftops of the former Arrow Dive buildings are barely visible beneath the canopy of the Port Jackson Figtrees.
This painting is a sequel to a canvas I painted close to this viewpoint, 35 years ago in 1989, when Pyrmont was a very different place to how it is today. This 1989 painting is on the cover of my book of my Pyrmont paintings.
book of paintings of Pyrmont by Jane Bennett
"Pyrmont- A History in paintings" by Jane Bennett

While I sold the 1989 painting several years ago, the book will be available for sale during the festival.

Saturday 9 July 2022

The Other Art Fair at Barangaroo



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going to the fair!
The Other Art Fair, Barangaroo, July 21 - 24
I am proud to have been selected to participate in The Other Art Fair at the Cutaway at Barangaroo in Sydney, July 21st to 24th.
I am so excited to show you my plein air painting series ‘The Hungry Mile'.
They were all painted 'en plein air' when Barangaroo was still the "Hungry Mile Wharf" on the exact spot where The Other Art Fair, Sydney will be held.
 
A preview of some of the works I'll exhibit 
 

OPENING HOURS
Thursday 21 July 4-7PM / 7-10PM
Friday     22 July 2PM – 10PM
Saturday 23 July 10AM – 6PM
Sunday   24 July 10AM – 5PM


 

Discounted tickets for followers of my blog:

  • 25% discount off tickets for Friday to Sunday, redeemable using the promo Tickets Code: OTHERS25
  • To book tickets, visit: https://www.theotherartfair.com/sydney/tickets
  • Enter the code OTHERS25 in the ‘Enter Promo Code’ field.
  • Note: you need to select the Promo Code option before you select any ticket times.
  • Hint: the promo code link is on the right under the heading ‘Please select your ticket option below’
  • This code gives  25% off all ticket types until July 21.
  • Promo Code must be used by July 21
Please join me and 110 other artists at The Cutaway at Barangaroo, July 21st to 24th. It would be lovely to see you there.

For more of my paintings of this area

"Paintings of a passing Port"

 "The Last of the Hungry Mile"

"Barangaroo - Tabula Rasa" 

"Sydney Harbour Control Tower"

 

Friday 20 May 2022

Exhibition at the 10th Pyrmont Festival of Wine Food and Art

It's the 10th anniversary of the Pyrmont Festival of Wine Food and Art, which will be held 11am - 5pm on  Saturday and Sunday 28th and 29th May at Pirrama Park.  
I'll exhibit a selection of artworks painted 'en plein air' in Pyrmont from the early 1980s  to about  2017. Most of the works I'll exhibit were painted within a couple of hundred metres from the Festival site.
I was 'Artist in Residence' at many locations -Pyrmont Power Station, the CSR Refinery and Distillery, Pyrmont Goods Yard, the Waterpolice site, Jones Bay Wharf, Union Square and the top of the half completed Anzac Bridge. 
I had several 'pop-up' studios on and around the area that used to be the festival site. To the west, at the end of Harris st, was the CSR refinery, where I'd set up my easel at the top of the old boilerhouse - later to become the 'Elizabeth' apartment complex of the Jacksons Landing Development. 
Plein air oil painting of the CSR Refinery by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P225A The Boilerhouse CSR Refinery  1991 oil on canvas 91 x 91cm

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Every now and then, I'd even climb onto the roof and paint from the chimneys!
The painting below shows the old CSR chem labs and McCaffrey's from the base of the chimney.

Plein air oil painting of the CSR Refinery by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P250 Pyrmont panorama from the CSR  1991 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I'm really excited to be back after so long, as Pyrmont has changed so much since - from an industrial ghost town to a media, retail and entertainment hub. 
The painting below shows the Water Police site, which is now Pirrama Park - the site of next weeks' Festival.
Plein air oil painting of Pyrmont Water Police site from the CSR Refinery by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
P243A Water Police site 1991 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The former Manly ferry, MV Baragoola was moored at the Wharf during the early 1990s. It recently sank at its berth off the Waverton Coal Loader, only a few weeks short of its centenary.

Thursday 13 January 2022

Tipping Point -MV Baragoola

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.

“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

From the 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises”   by Ernest Hemingway
Another version of "Hemingway's Law of Motion " is  by the  economist Rudiger Dornbusch:
"The crisis takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought."
It's a common human failing that we rarely act until a crisis happens.
The initial effects happen gradually.
Drip by drip.
It's not a problem...
Until it is.
One day 'Gradually' will always  become 'suddenly'. 
This is the tipping point.
I will leave it to others to recount the long, troubled history of the MV Baragoola.
The best  account I've found is in an article in the Manly Daily.
Plein air painting of Sydney Harbour from the ferry MV Baragoola by maritime artist Jane Bennett
Half finished panorama of Sydney Harbour from the Baragoola 20th February 2016 oil on canvas 31 x 153cm Against the staircase of MV Baragoola
About 6 or 7 years ago I was invited to paint on board by one of the members of the Baragoola Preservation Society. He talked about the possibility of holding an exhibition with the proceeds being used to help fund repairs. The ship was in obvious need of  massive amounts of work, but at the time, the volunteers seemed to have enthusiasm and a sense of purpose.
Plein air painting of Sydney Harbour from the ferry MV Baragoola by maritime artist Jane Bennett
Half finished panorama of Sydney Harbour from the Baragoola 20th February 2016 oil on canvas 31 x 153cm
This is the last painting I started on board the Baragoola, before her change of ownership.

Plein air painting of Sydney Harbour from the ferry MV Baragoola by maritime artist Jane Bennett
The artist painting a half finished panorama of Sydney Harbour from the Baragoola 20th February 2016 oil on canvas 31 x 153cm
A couple of years later I finally returned after dealing with a serious illness in the family, to find a change of regime. Instead of the previous volunteers there was someone described variously as either the new  "shipkeeper" or "owner".
The ship was in a far more dilapidated condition and the gangplank was frankly dangerous with loose and missing railings
I was welcomed at first, then gradually the behaviour of those on board became strange and then alarming. I desperately wanted to remove my paintings and easel, but I would have needed help across the ricketty gangplank- and I knew I wouldn't get any.
The terrible condition of the vessel and gangplank as well as my reservations about the attitude and behaviour of the recent occupants made it impossible for me to ever return to the vessel to retrieve my belongings. I wondered at first if I was over-reacting- until I asked several people if they could escort me back on the vessel, and they all refused, saying they wouldn't be game to set foot on board.
I kept hoping that people with expertise and unlimited funding would one day take control, but knew that this wasn't going to happen.
The half-finished canvas above, as well as my easels, paint and many other canvases went down with the ship. 
The mooring lines still hold parts of it in place, while the weight of water, tide and debris pulls the rest away. 
As I paint the wreck from the Coal Loader and the Cape Don, I watch  my old canvases lap against the boom with the other flotsam.

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
The last line from the 1925 novel "The Great Gatsby" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Monday 10 January 2022

Vale Baragoola

Part of Australia's maritime history has been lost forever when the MV Baragoola, the last Sydney built Manly ferry, finally sank at her mooring at the Coal Loader Wharf, Waverton.
Sadly the ferry was only a couple of weeks short of her centenary.
She was built in Balmain and launched at Morts Dock on 14 February, 1922 for the Circular Quay to Manly service. Originally a steamer, she was converted to diesel-electric in 1961 and was retired in 1983.
For nearly 20 years she was at various moorings around Pyrmont and Blackwattle Bay.
This is a canvas I painted in 1991 from the top floor of the tablet House of the CSR Refinery (now Jackson's Landing). The MV Baragoola is on the left hand side next to Wharf 22-23, which was demolished shortly after I finished this painting.
Plein air oil painting of Manly ferry MV Baragoola at Pyrmont Point painted by maritime heritage artist Jane Bennett 

 
 
 










P243A 'Baragoola and the Water Police painted from the Tablet House of the CSR' 1991 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

Since 2003, she has been laid up at Balls Head Bay on the north side of Sydney Harbour as attempts to restore the vessel continued.
Plein air oil painting of the MV Baragoola and the Cape Don at the Coal Loader wharf painted by maritime heritage artist Jane Bennett
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
S122 'Cape Don + Baragoola' 2019 oil on canvas 91 x 183cm

This is a large panorama I painted from the Coal Loader in 2019 showing the Cape Don in the foreground.
What a contrast with the wreckage I painted recently!
Jane Bennett, maritime artist, painting the wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader, en plein air

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The artist painting the wreck of MV Baragoola 
(Photo taken by Catherine Atherton)
Over the last few decades of her life, many people volunteered to attempt to save Baragoola.
Jane Bennett,maritime artist, painting the wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader
Painting wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader 31 x 61cm
 
Jane Bennett,maritime artist, painting the wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader
Painting wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader 31 x 61cm and 45 x 92cm


For a while restoration attempts seemed to make some headway, but a few years ago the ownership changed and the ship deteriorated noticeably.
Unfortunately it became increasingly obvious that her fate was inevitable.
Jane Bennett,maritime artist, painting the wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader
Painting wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader 31 x 61cm  

Jane Bennett,maritime artist, painting the wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader
Painting wreck of MV Baragoola from the Coal Loader 45 x 92cm