Monet and Streeton meet Windsor Bridge

Windsor is one of the 'Macquarie towns' on the Hawkesbury River created in the early 19th century by Governor Lachlan Macquarie as the foodbowl of Sydney.

 TSWB1 Windsor Bridge from western side
2013 acrylic on canvas 46 x 61cm

Available

Thompson Square, established in 1795 at the centre of Windsor, is thought to be the oldest public square in Australia.

The old Windsor Bridge was a beam bridge built in 1874 for horse-drawn vehicles.

This canvas was painted in 2013 before NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) department had started work on the replacement bridge, 35 metres (115 ft) downstream from the existing bridge.

The bank on the Freeman's Reach side of the Hawkesbury, where I painted this idyllic view marks exactly where the new bridge is now situated.

I painted these scenes in jacaranda flowering season as the bluish mauves offset the bright greens of the foreground.

TSWB3 Windsor Bridge early morning from western side
2013 acrylic on canvas 46 x 61cm
Available

The old bridge is an austere construction with modestly proportioned piers and the engineering of the cross bracing  consistent with the challenges of its location.

TSWB12 View from Windsor Bridge in jacaranda season
2015 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
Available

As you can see from the painting above, the real charm of Windsor Bridge is revealled in its river vistas.

Monet would have loved this spot. And my gallerist, on seeing these works, did ask if I'd painted them in France.

This area certainly inspired Arthur Streeton, one of the Australian Impressionists, who painted his masterpiece "The Purple Noon's Transparent Might" not far from here.

TSWB16 'Construction of the new Windsor Bridge' 2019
oil on canvas 91 x 183cm
Available

But now the timeless harmony of the sleepy river and the Georgian, Victorian and Federation architecture of Thompson Square has been surrounded by a maelstrom of excavation and construction.

Most of the old trees have now been felled.

The new bridge opened to traffic on 18th May 2020.

The new approach road rises up on a large visually intrusive embankment as it cuts a swathe  through the square.

There is now a bitter battle to save the 140 year old bridge from demolition. The RMS has stated that it will start removal in the coming months, but many would prefer the old bridge to be restored and left in situ. 

Related posts

My page of Windsor Paintings

Painting Thompson Square, Windsor

The Boiling Frog

Fish and chips

The Phantom Toll House

Fish and chips, painting in Windsor

Painting a Thompson Square panorama

in Windsor

Painting Windsor Seafoods and its neighbour Gloria Jean's Coffee from just outside the Macquarie Arms Hotel.

My favourite fast food shop in Windsor!

 TSW11 'George st from Thompson Square '
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 153cm
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 I usually painted the trees, river and the graceful Georgian architecture on either side of the park. I found that I really enjoyed painting Windsor's George st shopping strip or "Eat St".

I've decided to paint a series of studies of individual shops.

Starting to paint a small canvas
'Windsor Seafoods and Gloria Jean's Coffee'
2014 oil on canvas 28 x 36cm
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Windsor Seafoods at 74 George St Windsor is in the AC Stearn Building.built in 1907.

The name "A. C. Stearn" and date is helpfully written in decorative maroon lettering on the top floor of the facade of this impressive heritage building.
One of the legendary attractions of Windsor Seafoods is their macaw.

However "Snappa" is only in residence 3 or 4 days a week, and by the lack of raucous screeching, this must have been one of "Snappa"'s days off.

Starting to paint a small canvas
'Windsor Seafoods and Gloria Jean's Coffee '
2014 oil on canvas 28 x 36cm
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The original balcony of this handsome two story building  was unfortunately removed in the 1950's.

However it was later restored to its former grandeur  in 1975, and then was updated again in 1988, in preparation for the Bicentenary celebrations.

Halfway through painting a small canvas
'Windsor Seafoods and Gloria Jean's Coffee '
2014 oil on canvas 28 x 36cm
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There is a little laneway between Gloria Jean's Coffee and Windsor Seafoods which is topped by a cream wall that I initially thought was a walkway from the top floor of one building to another. It isn't, or if it is, you'd need the skills of a tightrope walker.
On closer inspection it's just a few rows of bricks strangely attaching the two buildings, with no real function. It could be a leftover from a previously existing building, possibly even the Sir John Young Hotel which was built in 1865, then demolished in 1915 following a fire in 1913.

Halfway through painting a small canvas
'Windsor Seafoods and Gloria Jean's Coffee '
2014 oil on canvas 28 x 36cm
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 Gloria Jean's Coffee is one of 3 little eateries in what apparently used to be a single building.

The other 2 are "Grill on George" and Stir Crazy" but aren't visible in these pictures.

Starting to paint 
TSW18 'Windsor Seafoods'
2014 oil on canvas 36 x 28cm
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I finished lunch and my first painting, then started another.

This time I used the same size canvas, but turned it around to paint a vertical study of Windsor Seafoods.

TSW17 'Windsor Seafoods and Gloria Jean's Coffee '
2014 oil on canvas 28 x 36cm
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One of the charming eccentricities of the architecture is that the levels of the crenellations of the roofline of the 2 outer buildings are lower than that of the centre building.

TSW18 'Windsor Seafoods'
2014 oil on canvas 36 x 28cm
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All 3 buildings have blue and cream striped awnings, which with the white canvas marquee, fluttering yellow and orange flags and blue and cream umbrellas of Windsor Seafoods, give the whole streetscape a jaunty air.

Related posts

Monet and Streeton meet Windsor Bridge

The Boiling Frog

The Phantom Toll House

Painting Thompson Square, Windsor

See my page in this blog of Windsor paintings

There's nothing...Painting the Jolly Frog Part 3

Tis the season to be jolly.... not.
Not if you happen to be a frog, anyway, after a nasty outbreak of "Spontaneous Pub Combustion".

 WJF5 'The 'Jolly Frog' (there's nothing...) 
2013 oil on canvas 25 x 31cm
Available

When I looked more closely at my painting (this canvas was painted in December 2013, just a month before the fire) I noticed the prophetic words "There's nothing" in the background to the left.
It is part of the "Holden" sign of the neighbouring car yard, and says in full "There's nothing quite like a Holden".

Detail of WJF5 'The 'Jolly Frog' (there's nothing...)
2013 oil on canvas 25 x 31cm

The entire sign was rather ironic, come to think of it.

"There's nothing like a Holden" ?
Oh, but there is - Ford, Ansett, Gowings,Toyota, possibly even SPC Ardmona and Qantas to join them.
I chose the phrase "the boiling frog" as appropriate to christen my first post about painting the "Jolly Frog".

The differences from one day to the next are apparently imperceptible, but it is harder and harder to go back.

I've just read the excellent historical notes on the self-guided Windsor Heritage Walk, that I discovered in the Macquarie Arms Hotel. 

Apparently this area on the bank of South Creek was the Green Hills Burial Ground. It was in use from the early 1800s until Governor Lachlan Macquarie proclaimed the new burial ground in 1811,now the cemetery of  St Matthews Anglican Church. It is thought that until the 1840s criminals continued to be buried on the bank of South Creek in unmarked graves.

No wonder I felt uneasy around the riverbank behind the Jolly Frog.

A ghost town in more ways than one.
They might well be spinning in them now.

To mix my metaphors, I hope the frog is a phoenix in disguise and will rise from its ashes.

Related Posts

Paintings of Pink pubs

The Boiling Frog

The Phantom Toll house

The Jolly Frog, historic Sydney pub, destroyed in blaze

(abc news)

The Phantom Toll House

Starting "Windsor Tollhouse" 2014

oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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By noon I had finished the first small oil study and started a larger canvas to reveal the Tollhouse in the context of the surrounding landscape.
The exterior of the Tollhouse had been lovingly restored in 1997.
I had heard that a local historical society used to open it for tours, but it looks as though it has not been opened for several years at least.

Starting "Windsor Tollhouse" 2014 
oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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The 1974 version of Fitzroy Bridge is the 5th incarnation of the bridge over South Creek.

Painting "Windsor Tollhouse" 2014 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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In contrast to the current surroundings, this 1875 photo of the Tollhouse with the "Jolly Frog"  shows  the prominent place the Jolly Frog and Toll House once played as gate posts leading into Windsor.

Painting "Windsor Tollhouse" 2014
oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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As you can see in this photo, the Tollhouse is invisible from the main road. Unfortunately despite its site as Windsor's heritage gateway it isn't able to function as a tourist drawcard.

The bridge definitely needs to be at this level or even higher, due to frequent  flooding, so there is no easy solution to the problem of the Tollhouse.

Painting "Windsor Tollhouse" 2014
oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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 The land is close to the river, and even more prone to flooding than the other side of the road which is slightly more elevated.

The Tollhouse is now buried deep in a hole.

"Windsor Tollhouse" 2014
oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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In the shadow of the concrete wall, this little heritage gem stands no chance of becoming the tourist drawcard that it so richly deserves to be.

"Windsor Tollhouse" 2014
oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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 I managed to complete  this painting by 5.30 pm.

"Windsor Tollhouse" 2014
oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
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What a contrast between the sensitivity of the texture of the convict cut sandstone blocks and the brutality of the concrete aggregate wall!
I think that my painting really expresses the feeling of claustrophobia given by the oppressive concrete wall looming over the Toll House.

The wall has a threatening, almost malevolent appearance, and the building seems to be in danger of being buried by it.

Related posts

• Paintings of Pink pubs - Painting the Jolly Frog Part 2
• The Boiling Frog
• Storm warning, Goat Island
• Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum
• Another one bites the dust

Historic Sydney pub The Jolly Frog destroyed in blaze (abc.net.au)
 

See my pageof Windsor paintings

Paintings of Pink pubs - Painting the Jolly Frog Part 2

Another painting of the "Jolly Frog" before the fire.
I've just read the excellent historical notes on theself-guided Windsor Heritage Walks, that I found in the Macquarie Arms Hotel.
I painted this view from the site of the Windsor Barracks and Guardhouse opposite.
According to the guide "in 1818 a substantial brick barracks accommodating up to 60 soldiers was completed on this site by Richard Fitzgerald. The foundations of the guardhouse constructed in 1830 at the entrance to the barracks were unearthed by roadworks in 1976 and the site preserved. The guardhouse consisted of 3 small cells which were used for the confinement of subordinate soldiers. The site was surrounded by a high wall, remnants of which survive today. The barracks and guardhouse were demolished in about 1928 to make way for the construction of a police station and lockup."

WJF4 'The 'Jolly Frog' from the foundations

of the Military Barracks
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
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Whenever I painted the "Jolly Frog" I found myself thinking about Edward Hopper's paintings, while listening to the Buena Vista Social Club on my mp3 player.In Edward Hopper's paintings, encroaching shadows express the tension between nature and culture, and past and present.

Although roads are typically associated with the noise, speed, and rapid change of modern life, this scene is curiously still and silent.

I've finally tracked down the Edward Hopper painting that I feel it most resembles " Early Sunday Morning" 1930.
After crossing the Fitzroy bridge over South Creek, for a minute I thought I had arrived at a sleepy Cuban shanty town. The shabby facade of the "Jolly Frog" painted like a block of liquorice allsorts , a combination of sublime architecture and gorblimey colour evoked the streets of Old Havana.
I've always wondered about the inspiration behind the surprising and lurid colour schemes of moribund pubs.
For comparison, I have included 2 of my paintings of the ex-pub "The Pyrmont Arms".

"P248A The 'Pyrmont Arms' from the CSR 2
1991 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
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The pink paint job is startling enough on the close up bird's eye view study I painted from the roof of the CSR boilerhouse (now the 'Elizabeth' apartment of the Jackson's Landing LendLease development)

But just look at how it sticks out like a sore thumb amongst all the dark decaying bond stores and warehouses!

P249 "Pyrmont panorama- from the CSR 2"
 1991 oil on canvas 38 x 76cm
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Same fabulously horrid "glow in the dark" shade of "Paddo pink", but a very different fate was in store for the ex- Pyrmont Arms Hotel. It is no longer a hotel, but has been reasonably sympathetically renovated and is now a combination of apartments above and a bottle-o below.

The real mystery is how the "Terminus Hotel" a block further south in Pyrmont has so far escaped. The Terminus has been derelict since the mid 1980s, and must surely be a candidate for the Guinness Book of Records for the longest existence as a derelict building without having suffered a mysterious fire. If you're interested in its strange history see my posts in this blog "To the Point" , "Looking over the overlooked" and "A tale of Two Pyrmont Hotels"

Update

WJF4 'The 'Jolly Frog' from the foundations
of the Military Barracks
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
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Past and present at the Jolly Frog, 26th January 2014

WJF4 'The 'Jolly Frog' from the foundations
of the Military Barracks
 2013 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
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 Past and present at the Jolly Frog, 26th January 2014

WJF5 'The 'Jolly Frog' (there's nothing...)
 2013 oil on canvas 25 x 31cm
Private Collection : Windsor
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Related posts

See my page of Windsor paintings

See my page of Pyrmont paintings

"A tale of Two Pyrmont Hotels"

"Looking over the overlooked"

"To the Point"

The Boiling Frog

The Phantom Toll House

Historic Sydney pub The Jolly Frog destroyed in blaze (abc.net.au)

6 Year sentence for Jolly Frog Arsonist  Hawkesbury Gazette 26/10/16

The Boiling Frog

 WJF1 'Door of the 'Jolly Frog' 
2013 oil on canvas 15 x 15cm

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The "Jolly Frog", was "mysteriously" burnt down at about 10pm on the 20th January.

A popular local watering hole, it had been derelict for several years.

Its lurid fluoro pink paint job was the first visible landmark after crossing the bridge into Windsor.

Now it's gone up in smoke.
A few months before, I painted some small studies from a small road opposite the "Frog"  I also painted a few small studies from my car behind the pub, where there was a wasteland used as a carpark.
The "Jolly Frog" certainly had the atmosphere of an accident waiting to happen. it reminded me of  the former White Bay Hotel, which a couple of years ago had suffered a similar fate.

 WJF3 'Study of the 'Jolly Frog' 
2013 oil on canvas 18 x 13cm
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WJF2 'Sign of the 'Jolly Frog' 
2013 oil on canvas 18 x 13cm
Private Collection : Winmalee
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This trio of tiny oil studies have a slightly "Edward Hopper" air about them; never a bad thing to have.
Closed shutters, boarded up doors and a disquieting mystery inside.
In my next post about painting the 'Jolly Frog' I have some 'before and after' paintings.

Related posts

See my page of Windsor paintings

Paintings of Pink pubs - Painting the Jolly Frog Part 2

 
The Phantom Toll House

Fish and chips

 Painting Thompson Square, Windsor

Historic Sydney pub The Jolly Frog destroyed in blaze (abc.net.au)

Friends of the Jolly Frog

6 year jail sentence for Jolly Frog Arsonist

Hawkesbury Gazette 26/10/16

Painting Thompson Square, Windsor

Thompson Square, the oldest public town square in Australia,  is a charming and unique relic of the colonial Georgian era Sydney. It is the only town square remaining from the original five ‘Macquarie towns’ planned and designed by Governor Lachlan Macquarie.

Starting a plein air oil painting of Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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This Precinct is listed on the Register of the National Estate, the National Trust and also on the NSW State Heritage Register as being of State heritage significance.

Starting a plein air oil painting of Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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Most of the buildings in Thompson Square are regarded as of crucial historical and architectural merit. 

Half-way through my plein air oil painting of
Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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The charm of Thompson Square is that it still retains the village square character originally intended by Macquarie.

Half-way through my plein air oil painting of
Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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Windsor Bridge is the oldest existing bridge crossing the Hawkesbury River. The caisson deck supports are original and over 130 years old.
It was designed by the Public Works Department and constructed, between 1872-1874, by contractors Andrew Turnbull and William K. Dixon.

Half-way through my plein air oil painting of
Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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A plaque that was placed on the bridge to celebrate Australia's Bicentenary quoting the then Minister for Public Works John Sutherland, who opened the bridge in 1874, states:
"I hope this bridge will last longer than the life of the youngest child who passes over it today.'

Australia's heritage.

Half-way through my plein air oil painting of
Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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There are so many lovely viewpoints of the bridge, park, river and Georgian architecture that I found it difficult to choose!

Half-way through my plein air oil painting of
Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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I decided to paint a panoramic canvas from the "Doctor's House" on the far left to the "School of Arts" building over the road on the right, with the lovely park in the centre.

Half-way through my plein air oil painting of
Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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The historic Windsor bridge, just to the right of the "Doctor's House" is linking the middle distance to the background, and the Hawkesbury river can just be glimpsed between the trees.

The artist painting Thompson Square, Windsor
oil on canvas 25 x 152cm
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Painting 'en plein air' in the oldest town square in Australia. I'm following the footsteps of Arthur Streeton, who painted "the Purple Noon's Transparent might" in the Hawkesbury district.

Related posts

The Boiling Frog

 Paintings of Pink Pubs -Painting the Jolly Frog Part 2

Fish and chips

The Phantom Toll House

See my page of Windsor paintings