Pyrmont : Shadows of the past

I'm exhibiting 2 very large tonal drawings of early Pyrmont in a
Group Exhibition
June 13 - July 17 2011 at the Frances Keevil Gallery :
 

 P116A "Looking West from the top of the ANZAC bridge"

1995 - 6 mixed media on paper 141 x 134cm

Available for sale

Exhibition History:

FINALIST : 1996 GRAFTON JACARANDA DRAWING PRIZE

WINNER : 1996 PEOPLE'S CHOICE GRAFTON JACARANDA DRAWING PRIZE
Exhibited 2010 exhibition "Closing the Gap"  Frances Keevil Gallery COLLECTION : MITCHELL LIBRARYThe ultimate bird’s eye view of Sydney – the top of the western pylon of the still unfinished New Glebe Island Bridge provided me with majestic panoramas of Harbour, Bridge & City on the east.

However in 2 large drawings I decided to concentrate on the stark industrial landscapes on the north-west. It was as yet un-named – only after it was operational for at least a year did Bob Carr christen it the ANZAC Bridge.

I was invited up here as a consequence of being the resident artist of the Pyrmont Power Station, when Sydney Electricity were having discussions with the RTA and Baulderstone Hornibrook about lighting the Bridge.

While the bridge was being built, access to the top was by a tiny green lift that lurched unsteadily up one of the legs on the eastern and western side.The lifts seemed to be made mostly of chickenwire and it felt like every time they managed to groan upwards a couple of metres, they would suddenly lurch downwards at least half as much again.

After construction finished, access to the top was a lot more strenuous, although not as gut-wrenching. The legs of the ANZAC Bridge are hollow! To get to the top still needs a touch of courage as well as the ability to climb a steel rung ladder- the last 30 metres are completely vertical.

Now the old White Bay Hotel has been burnt down in mysterious circumstances, and subsequently demolished. The entire Bays precinct stretches from Blackwattle Bay, Glebe in the West, through White Bay and Glebe Island wharf, all the way to Balmain in the east. This huge expanse of former maritime industries faces unprecedented change in the near future, which I am poised to record.

 

 

P117 'Industrial Cathedral' 1998
charcoal on paper 131 x 131 cm
Available for sale
WINNER : 1998 HUNTER'S HILL OPEN ART PRIZE
FINALIST: 1998 BLAKE PRIZE FOR RELIGIOUS ART
FINALIST : 1998 DOBELL PRIZE FOR DRAWING, ART GALLERY OF NSW
EXHIBITED : 1998 - 2000 Blake Prize Touring Exhibition Touring the Regional Galleries of Australia
Drawn at the Cooperage, C.S.R. Refinery, where they made the barrels for the rum at the Distillery.
The Cooperage was a trio of connected saw-tooth warehouses behind the cranes where the ships used to dock.
I remember a giant mound of sugar inside the eastern shed. Some of the workers said (I hope as a joke !?) that they used to go for toboggan rides down it during smoko! Whether or not this was a joke, for many years afterwards I avoided eating sugar if possible - especially brown sugar!
By this time LendLease had demolished all the cranes on the dock and many of the other structures surrounding. The tin roof had gone and the skeletal framework reminded vaguely me of boatbuilding.
This drawing focuses on the mysterious patterns of shadow made by the fall of light. The cavernous space & rows of columns reminded me of the interiors of cathedrals & 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 Post Office, the University of Sydney. At sunset the sandstone rock face caught the last rays of light & the derelict warehouse was transformed.
In this series I painted many oils on canvas and board, and a few ink wash drawings on paper. The image of this area haunted me for several years, and I decided that I needed to create a drawing on a monumental scale while it was still there.
Now this building is the site of the "Cooperage cafe", servicing the new residents of LendLease's upmarket Jackson's Landing development.
I chose this image as the banner for my blog "Industrial Revelation"

I felt that it was an iconic image, summing up my mission to reveal the sadly neglected beauty of industrial heritage.

For more information see My Pyrmont page in this blog

Related posts
Looking over the overlooked-Urban decay in Pyrmont
To the Point
Wrong side of the tracks - Darling Island Bond and Free

Pretty vacant

A Tale of two hotels - the Terminus and the Point

Pyrmont Paintings past and present
Paintings of Pink pubs - Painting the Jolly Frog Part 2 
Not the Writers Festival- Exhibition of Pyrmont Paintings by Jane Bennett at 2013 Pyrmont Festival
We like sheep - Waite and Bull Building 137 Pyrmont Street
Marine art exhibition at Australian National Maritime Museum
Pyrmont Sandstone - The Lizards of Oz

Ghost ship - ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe - Part 2

HMAS Adelaide was decommissioned in 2008 and prepared for scuttling as a dive wreck during late 2009 and early 2010.
Her mast was removed, dangerous materials and toxins were removed, and access holes were cut in the ship's flanks.
She was originally intended to be sunk on 27 March 2010, 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) offshore from Avoca Beach, in 32 metres (105 ft) of water.

"The ex-HMAS Adelaide on Glebe Island wharf" 2010
oil on canvas 30 x 61 cm
Sold
By late 2009 the Baulderstone group had left the northern end of Glebe Island, leaving it clear for the ex- HMAS Adelaide.
At the southern end, the 'Thor Kis' arrived with cable which would later be laid under Port Botany.
McMahons Services started preparing the ex-HMAS Adelaide for scuttling, which was then earmarked for March 27th 2010.

'Salt Truck at Glebe, with the 'Thevenard'

2010 oil on canvas

15 x 30cm
Sold
I painted some other interesting visitors to the wharf.
In this painting you can see the ex- HMAS Adelaide lurking in the background behind a giant mound of salt being poured on the wharf from the salt ship 'CSL Thevenard'. This salt was then loaded into trucks and driven down to chemical plants at Port Botany.

Painting the 'Adelaide' on the wharf
Available

Painting the 'Adelaide' on the wharf
Available 
These 2 photos show me at work on the painting shown below. This large canvas, 61 x 183cm, really pushed the boundaries of what is physically possible in plein air painting.
When it became windy I would have to lie the canvas flat on the ground, or I would end up chasing it and my easel all over the wharf.

My easel and palette - gone with the wind !

Painting Ex-HMAS Adelaide at

Glebe Island wharf en plein air

Ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe Island wharf -

plein air oil painting

2011 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Available


"The ex-HMAS Adelaide on Glebe Island wharf"
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 183 cm
Available 
On the right hand side of this painting is the OES Barge. This finally left Glebe Island wharf for White Bay in June 2010, 1 day before leaving Sydney Harbour to lay cables under Botany Bay.
I had rushed to complete this, as some of the people on the wharf were quite interested in acquiring a work. I needn't have hurried, as a literally last minute decision pulled the plug on the scuttling.
Over a year of apparently interminable rolling legal action ensued before the end of the saga.
An appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal by a local and vocal
protest group 3 days before the sinking saw the project placed on hold until the case can be heard in full.
The case was originally to have been heard on 5 May, but was then postponed to July.
Finally the federal judge, Justice Garry Downes, president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, approved the project but imposed stringent new conditions.
His decision ended a legal battle which had lasted almost six months. On 15 September, the Tribunal ruled that the scuttling of the ship could go ahead after the removal of any remaining wiring, canvas, insulation, and exfoliating red lead paint.
The delays caused by the tribunal hearing meant that instead of costing the original $5.8 million assigned to the scuttling project, the tribunal hearing, additional cleanup, and berthing fees brought the total cost to $8.5 million.
The ship was still there, looking a little forlorn until the dawn of April 11th when it embarked on its final triumphant journey to its final resting spot off North Avoca.

"Ex HMAS Adelaide departing Glebe Island at dawn"

2011 oil on canvas 112 x 183cm

Available 
Her last journey, accompanied by the 'Woona'. The other tug was hidden by the bulk of the ship.
I met up with her again in Terrigal, a couple of days before the sinking and painted her last moments before her new life as an artificial reef.
There was a dramatic viewpoint of her from a rocky cove beneath the imposing "Skillion".

'Ex HMAS Adelaide from the 'Skillion' at sunset '2011
oil on canvas 15 x 30cm sold
PRIVATE COLLECTION : TERRIGAL

"Ex HMAS Adelaide from the 'Skillion' the next morning"
2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
Available
I also painted her from a lookout next to the surf club at North Avoca Beach.

"Ex HMAS Adelaide from North Avoca" 2011
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available 

Painting "Ex HMAS Adelaide from North Avoca" 2011
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available
Ex HMAS Adelaide was finally successfully sunk at midday on Wednesday April 13th. As if all the previous nail biting suspense hadn't been enough, there was over an hour long wait for an inquisitive pod of dolphins to move out of the area.
I watched and sketched its final moments above water barely 300 metres away from Andrew MacMahon's huge white boat "Strictly Business, which you can see in the distance in the painting below.
The next day I painted the same spot where the ship had been from the same vantage point next to the Skillion.


Painting the Adelaide from North Avoca 13th April 2011

''Strictly Business' from the 'Skillion' Terrigal

(Adelaide underwater) '

oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available 
For a long time it had seemed as though the ship would remain in limbo.
All the drama was worth it in the end.
It has succeeded as an artificial reef beyond the wildest dreams of its creators.
Recently I was painting a commission at Chowder Bay, Clifton Gardens, which is the headquarters of SIMS, the Sydney Harbour Institute of Marine Science. The marine scientists raved for hours about the wonderful diversity and abundance of marine species newly inhabiting the artificial reef.

Related Posts

Ghost ship - ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe - Part 1

Ship to Shore - Australian Marine Artists Society exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery

Beyond the Sea

Two Ships in dock

Tugs, barges and tall ships

From the Tampa to Strictly Ballroom

See my Hungry Mile page in this blog

For more paintings and information about the ex-HMAS Adelaide:

See my White Bay Wharf / Glebe island Wharf page in this blog

Ghost ship - ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe - Part 1

'Ex HMAS Adelaide arrives at Glebe Island wharf' 
2009 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available

The HMAS Adelaide had a varied career-  the Australian response to the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, Iraq invasion of Kuwait, Indonesian riots in May 1998, the INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce, the War in Afghanistan, and the United States-led invasion of Iraq.

She rescued 2 competitors  in the 1996–97 Vendee Globe solo round-the-world yacht race when in January 1997, the yachts of Thierry Dubois and Tony Bullimore capsized. 

Her most notorious moment was in 2001 when she intercepted a boat known as SIEV 4 carrying suspected illegal immigrants, now known as the 'Children overboard affair'.

'Action men' 2009 
oil painting on canvas 31 x 31cm

Available

The men from 'Action Cranes' start to remove railings in the first sign of the flurry of activity to come. . 
I painted close up details of the men at work, as well as a panorama of the ship positioned between the pillars of the Anzac Bridge, with its strings providing a dramatic counterpoint to the mast. 

'Action men' 2009 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Sold
COLLECTION : ACTION CRANES

Enquiries about similar paintings- janecooperbennett@gmail.com

At this stage the ship was at the southern end of the wharf.
At the northern end, I had been painting Baulderstone Hornibrook's construction of a screed and shear leg for the Port Botany Expansion Project. I became  frustrated at middle management's mindless onerous conditions while painting this project, which seemed designed to prevent me painting anything interesting without  helping anyone's health or safety.

 'Action cranes with the Adelaide' 
2009 oil on canvas 38 x 76cm
Available

As a plein air painter who has been used to painting under conditions that would scare most artists out of 10 years growth, it takes a lot to annoy or frustrate me! Coping with Baulderstone's minions was too much like beating my head against a brick wall for me to continue painting their project, but it was a blessing in disguise.
I had no idea how gripping the saga of the ex-HMAS Adelaide would become.
On the extreme left hand side of the last painting in this post is a strange contraption with white columns. This was a drill rig starting exploratory drilling for the ill-fated Sydney Metro project, which was finally shelved in early 2010 after a great deal of controversy.
Soon the controversy surrounding the scuttling of the ex-HMAS Adelaide would even rival the debate over the Metro! 

See my Hungry Mile page in this blog
For more paintings and information about the ex-HMAS Adelaide:
See my White Bay Wharf / Glebe island Wharf page in this blog

Related posts

From the Tampa to Strictly Ballroom

Ghost Ship Part 2

Ship to Shore - Australian Marine Artists Society exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery