Let there be rock

Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available
Not far south of the Terminus Hotel, another formerly ignored and derelict site is being gentrified.
There was a 'no man's land' between Harris and Mount streets which was an overgrown wasteland, with the southern end used as a carpark for the past 3 decades.

P241B 'Panorama from the roof of Pyrmont Power Station
from Harris St, Mount St to the CSR Distillery'
1991 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available
This is a small canvas I painted from the roof of the Chem-Lab of the Pyrmont Power Station in 1991, looking west towards the ethanol tanks of the CSR Distillery. In the centre is the handsome vine-covered Federation building that was once the house of the CSR Manager. The carpark can be seen to the right of the Manager's house.
Clumps of pampas grass used to poke through the badly laid bitumen, which was covered with weeds and strewn with discarded bongs.
This wasteland occasionally featured as a backdrop for early 1980s rock video clips.
Only a brick pier wall facing Mount st and a tumbledown graffitied sandstone block wall remained above ground level as relics of the row of terraces once occupying that site. The terraces had been pulled down long before I started to paint in Pyrmont.

Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
The carpark has now been excavated, revealing the golden sandstone beneath. This is one of the few remaining still undeveloped sites in Pyrmont, and I took the rare opportunity to paint the honey coloured tones of the yellowblock sandstone before it is removed and construction starts.
It isn't far from the McCaffery's stables, which had been built over the legendary 'Paradise Quarry', where the best quality sandstone in Sydney had been extracted.

Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
Under the bitumen, an archaeologist's dig had revealed a cobbled sandstone path, a neatly finished sandstone cesspit, carved sandstone steps and mysterious carvings. One of the carved images resembled a child-like version of a church or chapel. Paul Gye aka 'Pyrmonstrosity Pyrmontosis', who has dedicated many hours into painstakingly and expertly researching Pyrmont's hidden history, has concluded that these carvings might have dated from as early as 1840 and could refer to Dr JD Lang’s Presbyterian ‘Long Lost Chapel of Pyrmont’. The full album of photos of 'Pyrmonstrosity Pyrmontosis' site visit with photos of the carvings can be seen at Facebook album : Archaeological Site Visit - Mount & Harris Streets - 10 May 2017
The chapel was later relocated to Ultimo, and its current location is the 'Mustard Seed' ministry in Bulwara Street (ironically opposite the Lord Wolseley Hotel).
Unfortunately despite their unique heritage value, the carvings have by now been completely destroyed by the excavation.


Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
During my site visit, I tried to persuade the archaeologists to let me paint on site before the demolition started, but they gave me the brush off, no pun intended.
Frustratingly I had to peer through the hoardings and shadecloth.

Starting my painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
The 2,300sq metre site on the south-western side of the Terminus Hotel, will be soon transformed into a collection of 15 low-rise terrace houses, aka the 'New Life Pyrmont' project.

My painting of the
'Excavation between Harris and Mount Streets, Pyrmont'
2017 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available 
I persuaded a kind passer-by to hold up my painting so I could take a good photo of it against the demolition.
The top half of the stairs once leading from Harris Street to the carpark have already been demolished, and the Harris Street frontage has been completely excavated and removed to allow trucks to enter and remove the sandstone.

I've heard that the terraces have been designed to incorporate some of the excavated sandstone from the site.

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

Under the Hammer

Before the Navy finally booted me off Garden Island, I made sure that I tackled some large scale drawings
Since 2007, due to real or perceived safety issues, temporary catch platforms have been suspended from the long arm and short arm jibs. They spoil the line, but apparently provide access to allow condition inspections to be performed safely.
At first glance, it looks as though the Hammerhead Crane has 5 legs.
However, one of these "legs" is a lift to give access from the wharf to the slew ring level (seen in the centre at the top of my drawing). As the crane is 61m high, this wasn't an idle luxury.
Unfortunately this lift has been out of operation since 1998.

While drawing this, I met probably the last person to have ever used the lift. He was escorting a group of photographers to the top, and had pressed the lift button when he heard a muffled explosion, and then found his hands were black with graphite.

He said that he was lucky and got off lightly. I think he was right.

'Under the Hammerhead Crane' 2014
ink, pastel, charcoal,graphite on paper 140 x 110cm
WINNER : 2014 DRAWING PRIZE ROYAL EASTER SHOW
Enquiries

My hands were also black with graphite after creating this enormous drawing.
I stood directly underneath and looked up into the top of the soaring structure.
By looking up I sought to capture the Burke and Longinus concept of the "sublime", with its overtones of awe, terror and vertigo, rather than the picturesque aspect of the typical "hammerhead" profile, a view familiar from Mrs Macquarie's Chair opposite.
The girders were silhouetted against the open sky; the safety nets resembling fan vaulting in a ruined Gothic abbey.

While creating this enormous drawing, I also remembered Piranesi's devastating images of Roman ruins, dangerously broken and overgrown amid the wreckage of a dead civilization.

 GIHC7 'Under the Hammerhead Crane'
2014 ink pastel charcoal on paper 76 x 56cm

Enquiries

I am an artist and historian, born into a time and place where only sport and business are valued. Drawing on the ruins of the industrial past , walking under rusty girders in the shadow of toppled giants.

Every ruin is implicitly a reminder that all things are destined for oblivion.

The Hammerhead Crane was built to demonstrate industrial might and the march of progress.

Even as a victim of the slow death of de-industrialization, it retains a poignant grandeur.

This was exhibited in my solo show "Under the Hammer" at the Frances Keevil Gallery from November 18th - December 7th 2014.

Related Posts

Hammerhead Crane

Patina - Beautiful Decay

Rust never sleeps : Painting the Hammerhead Crane Part 2

Painting the Icebreaker "Polar Star"

Related articles

"inheritance"- Post "Hammerhead Crane-Garden Island under threat"

"Inheritance" Post - Navy Fleet Review- an opportunity missed

Tower of Power- Drawings of the White Bay Power Station

White Bay, an often overlooked part of Sydney's industrial and maritime heritage will soon be radically overhauled.

'White Bay Power Station' 2012
ink gouache on paper 30 x 21cm
FINALIST : 2012 KEDUMBA DRAWING PRIZE

Enquiries

I have painted many of its current and former landmarks, including the Unilever site, the White Bay Power Station and the notorious White Bay Hotel, (which was 'mysteriously' burnt down) ever since they were all operational in the late 70s - early 80s.

'Chimneys of the White Bay Power Station 2' 2012
ink gouache on paper 30 x 21cm

FINALIST : 2012 KEDUMBA DRAWING PRIZE

Enquiries

This is a group of 4 small ink wash and gouache drawings on paper, which I have decided to enter in the 2012 Kedumba Invitational Drawing Prize.

'Coal Loader White Bay Power Station' 2012
ink gouache on paper 30 x 21cm
FINALIST : 2012 KEDUMBA DRAWING PRIZE

Enquiries

It seems a strange distortion of scale to create such small works in response to such a slumbering beast as the gigantic Power Station. Usually I paint an enormous canvas to try to capture its heroic proportions.

However there are so many exquisite details which can get lost in a larger composition that I was glad of the opportunity to focus on them. Every inch of this rusting monster is worthy of a painting, so that it is difficult to choose.

'Coal Loader and Chimney White Bay Power Station'
 2012 ink gouache on paper 30 x 21cm
FINALIST : 2012 KEDUMBA DRAWING PRIZE

Enquiries

And I will have to choose quickly.

Now the White Bay Transit Shed has been partially demolished and the site re-developed as the controversial new Cruise ship terminal.

Glebe Island wharf, once used for offloading cars, has been eerily empty since the departure of ex-HMAS Adelaide to its watery grave off North Avoca in 2011.

A temporary exhibition venue will soon be built on this space to replace the Darling Harbour complex while it is being refurbished.

A road will soon be built on the empty site where the "Great Gatsby" had been filmed last year, to link all these new developments to civilization.

"White Bay Power Station after rain"
2012 oil on canvas 183 x 112cm

Sold 
PRIVATE COLLECTION : SYDNEY

Enquiries 

So I feel that the days of the White Bay Power Station as a hulking urban ghost are numbered. 

One day the sleeping giant will wake.... 

To what sort of future? 
Update

Chris Johnson of the much loathed Urban Taskforce has described the White Bay Power Station as a 'lazy asset' in a story in the Inner West Courier Skyscraper one of the plans for Glebe Island from Urban Taskforce  16 Oct 2012  written by Oliver Murray. 

Funny, I've always thought that about the Urban Taskforce.

Apparently the two main options on the table to decrease its laziness will be to plonk a 60 storey tower on the end of the peninsula, or 8 residential blocks ranging between 20 - 30 storeys high. 
All throughout 2013 men have been working on the roof replacing the rusty corrugated iron, so hopefully this means that the building will be adapted and reused rather than demolished. 
However I have seen sham repairs before. The CWG building in the AGL Gasworks Mortlake site  (now Breakfast Point) had an elaborate network of bright red bollards propping up the interior, looking like a bizarre set of cat whiskers. This led onlookers to believe that its facade would be retained - right up until its demolition.
So excuse my cynicism.

Also see my page in this blog :

White Bay Hotel/White Bay Power Station Paintings

Related posts

Inside Out

Power House

Artist in Residence at the White Bay Power Station - Part 2

Artist in Residence at the White Bay Power Station Part 1

Steady Rest

Rust Bucket

Keep your eyes on the prize (and your finger off the trigger)

3 "Highly Commended" Awards in the past 3 days!

One off winning $1,250.

One off winning another $1,250.

And one off winning $5,000.
Don't know whether I should accept congratulations or commiserations.
I hadn't known until I collected my paintings today that I had been awarded two "High Commendations" for my entries in the Camden Art Prize.
I had been awarded the "Highly Commended" for  "The Art of Navigation". This is a memento mori painting of antique navigation instruments, and pays tribute to the famous 18th century navigator La Perouse.

"The Art of Navigation" oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

Enquiries

Yet another "Highly Commended" in the "Works on Paper" Section for a moody charcoal and ink interior, "The Turbine Hall Of the White Bay Power Station"

"The Turbine Hall Of the White Bay Power Station"
2011 charcoal, pastel and ink on paper 75 x 100cm

Enquiries

The "Blacksmiths, Eveleigh" ranked first of the five "High Commendations" awarded in the Open Section of the Hunters Hill Art prize, making it the runner-up.

"The Blacksmiths, Eveleigh Railway Workshops" 
oil on canvas 91 x 122cm

Enquiries

I had known that it had received at least a "Commended", as its title was in bold print on the website, but I had no idea that it was the runner up until the end of the presentation night when I read the judges comments :
"Gripping subject matter - the painterly shadows take on a rainbow hue from the furnace which is the source of all light and tension in this finely rendered genre painting"

There was a lot more tension, although a bit more heat than light, the other day in the Hunters Hill Club, the venue where my painting is hanging.
This year, paintings in the Hunters Hill Art Prize are hung at 3 historic venues - the  Hunters Hill Town Hall, the Congregational Church and the Hunters Hill Club - all within a short walking distance from each other.
My 2 largest paintings are displayed in the Town Hall, my entry in the 9 x 5" section is in the church, and the painting of the Blacksmiths, which was the runner up, is hung on the wall of the Club.
 It's a great idea, as people who don't usually go to art exhibitions will get an opportunity to check out the art.
However there were a couple of sightseers that we would all have been happy to live without.
There was a terrifying incident at the Hunters Hill Club on the night before the art prize opening, which I was told about at the opening by John Booth, the editor of the local paper "The Weekly Times".
At 9.30pm, two robbers armed with an axe and a rifle smashed their way through a locked door.
As they approached the bar, three of the club's employees  managed to lock themselves in a room to escape.
 Fortunately the robbers weren't able to get into the room after them.  Just as fortunately no-one else was injured, although one of the robbers had pushed a patron off his bar stool before jumping the bar. However as they fled, one of the robbers can be seen threatening patrons with a long rifle as he forces them to hand over their belongings.
I'm relieved that these thugs were apparently neither art fans nor art critics.
No paintings on display in the Club were damaged or stolen, and none will return to their creators  with bullet holes as extra decoration.
 And I'm even more relieved that this brazen robbery didn't occur on the opening night, which was attended by hundreds of people.

Related articles
Axe wielding thieves rob club on Sydney's Lower north shore

Daily Telegraph 11 May 12
Video of the armed robbery at the Hunters Hill Club
"Armed robbery at club in Hunters Hill" North Shore Times Crime  11 May 12  by Torin Chen

 Related posts

"The Navigator and the King"
The Art of Navigation
New still life paintings of navigation instruments
Inside Out
Power
Time for Safety
The fire within
Eveleigh - Industrial Heritage Artist at Work
Strike while the iron is hot
All fired up
The village smithy (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)
En plein air with street cred (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)

Homage to Picasso, Part 2 - Postcards from Picasso

The following sketches were all drawn in the Musée National Picasso in 1997 during my Marten Bequest Travelling Art Scholarship.
I had run out of paper, so I took some free postcards from the bookshop to record my thoughts.

This is the other side of the postcard from the bookshop of the Musée National Picasso.

I used the back of these to draw on at first as an act of desperation - I had run out of art materials and money!
However, from that time on, whenever I visit an exhibition I now always use the catalogue or booklet from the gallery to record my thoughts about the exhibition. It gives the sketches some context, I can remember exactly what I have seen and where.
At school I had driven my teachers crazy by annotating my textbooks in a similar fashion whenever I was bored, which meant about 99% of every lesson. This turned out to be a good foundation for my future career rather than timewasting and daydreaming. Somewhere in a dusty school cupboard there might still exist a few of my "illustrated manuscripts".


My sketch of "Study for 'Les Desmoiselles D'Avignon' "
Pablo Picasso 1907
ink on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 

During my Travelling Art Scholarship I filled page after page every day with annotated sketches of famous paintings and observations about my surroundings. Sometimes this was to learn some technique or to note some aspect of the painting for use later in one of my own paintings. Mostly it was just to make sure that I really looked at the works and didn't just skim over them. If I draw something I will remember what I have seen. If I've just taken a photo of something, I'll swiftly forget it. The greatest compliment you can pay to a work of art is to give it your time and attention.

I was interested in seeing the working sketches for iconic works such as 'Les Desmoiselles D'Avignon'- what was included; what was discarded - the paths not taken.The painting is now such an icon of modern art that it is easy to forget that its final form was not inevitable, but arrived at after months of struggle.


My ink drawing of
"Head of Marie-Therese Walter" Pablo Picasso, Boisgeloup 1932
ink on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 


My drawing of "Le Viel Homme Assis" by Pablo Picasso
graphite on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 


My drawing of
"Le Fou", a bronze sculpture by Pablo Picasso from 1905
graphite on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 
This little bronze was also exhibited in the current exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW "Picasso: masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris".


My ink drawing of one of Pablo Picasso's classically inspired heads.
ink on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 
I love the Protean nature of Picasso's art - how he would switch from the restrained classical poise in this example to the wild energy and cartoonish violence of the next example without missing a beat.


My gouache and ink drawing of

Pablo Picasso's Le baiser (The kiss) 1969, oil on canvas,

97 × 130 cm, and above it "Les Banderilla"

ink and gouache on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 

This oil painting is also included in the current exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW "Picasso: masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris".

My gouache and ink drawing of
Pablo Picasso's 1961 "Woman and child"
ink and gouache on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 

My gouache and ink drawing of Pablo Picasso's

1961 project for a monument

"Femme aux bras ecartes"

ink and gouache on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 


My gouache and ink drawing of
Pablo Picasso's"La Jeune Fille assise"
ink and gouache on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 


My gouache and ink drawing of a faun by Pablo Picasso
ink and gouache on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 


My gouache and ink painting of
"L'homme au mouton (Man with sheep)" Pablo Picasso, 1940s
ink and gouache on card 36 x 13cm 1997
Available 

Close up detail of my gouache and ink painting of
"L'homme au mouton (Man with sheep)" Pablo Picasso, 1940s
ink and gouache on card 18 x 13cm 1997
Available 

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." (Pablo Picasso) I loved the gentle expression on the face of "L'homme au mouton (Man with sheep)" Pablo Picasso, 1940s. If I was having a difficult day, I would feel revived by looking at his calm and tender features.
"I paint the way someone bites his fingernails; for me, painting is a bad habit because I don't know nor can I do anything else." (Pablo Picasso)
In the very first week of my Travelling Art Scholarship, I had accidentally dropped my camera off a bridge in Rotterdam. It seemed like a disaster at first, but it turned out to be the best thing I could have ever done to hone my drawing skills, as it forced me to get faster and more decisive with my work or miss the moment entirely. My drawings were more interesting than my photos were anyway and I didn't bother replacing my camera until after I got back to Australia.
Another thing that initially seemed to be a disaster and turned out to be a blessing in disguise, was that I am completely useless at learning new languages. Despite my best efforts, my German is appalling, my French is pitiful and my Italian is worse. And according to the English, I don't speak English all that well either! If I wanted to make myself understood, I would have to draw whatever I needed. This would at least get a laugh, if nothing else. It worked a treat, and I had no problems with communication wherever I went. Art is truly a universal language.
It taught me that a work of art can have many purposes, from shallow to deep.

Related articles

Pablo Picasso show pays belated homage to Spanish genius

(guardian.co.uk)

Related posts in this blog

Homage to Picasso Part 1