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

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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.
Showing posts with label studio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label studio. Show all posts

Monday, 27 March 2017

Eaten by robots

My old studio, the Harbour Control Tower
Plein air oil painting of the Harbour Control Tower before it was demolished and the Hotel Palisade near Barangaroo painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
MP55 Harbour Control Tower from Observatory Hill
2016 oil on paper 9.5 x 9.5cm
 
Another one of my old studios has bitten the dust.
I feel like I can jinx a place just by painting it.
I have been observing the start of the demolition of the Port Operations Harbour Tower in Millers Point.
Love it or loathe it, the Tower was one of the last vestiges of Barangaroo's former life as a working port.
The heart and soul of the former 'Hungry Mile' has been ripped out and replaced with machines.
Literally.
Plein air oil painting of the Harbour Control Tower before it was demolished and the Hotel Palisade near Barangaroo painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
MP56 Harbour Control Tower from Argyle st
2016 oil on paper 9.5 x 9.5cm
Available 
Once the 'mushroom cap' at the top of the Tower was fully removed, the concrete stem below it was eaten away by robotic excavators from the top down.
Just another portent of the world envisioned by Isaac Asimov in his book “I, Robot. Technology asserts its robotic grip whether you like it or not.
Progress is so impersonal.
Eaten by robots- what a way to go!
So very Dr Who. "Exterminate, exterminate!"
Plein air oil painting of the Harbour Control Tower being demolished from the Hotel Palisade near Barangaroo painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
MP54 Harbour Control Tower
from the Hotel Palisade 2016-7
oil on canvas 122 x 153cm
Available

Meanwhile paint peels off surrounding terraces awaiting their inevitable gentrification. The Hotel Palisade opposite has completed its journey from seedy early opening waterfront dive to expensive hipster hub, while retaining some of the trappings of its colourful past.

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Wednesday, 27 July 2011

(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.

Sunday, 8 August 2010

My Studio at Barangaroo

Works in progress
Unfinished oil paintings on canvas.
Painting inside the the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8 painted in July-August 2010
plein air oil painting of the demolished Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at South Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
BAR7 'Empty Hall, Wharf 8' 2010
oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Enquiries about these paintings
plein air oil painting of the demolished Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at South Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
My paintings of the soon to be demolished
Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at South Barangaroo
Enquiries about these paintings 
I make the big move out of the terminal, as it is soon to be demolished.
plein air oil painting of the demolished Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at South Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
"Grabber, ripper,muncher"
2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 31cm
Enquiries about these paintings 
Yes, they actually are the proper names of the attachments to the excavators! I'm not making them up. Truly.
The "Grabber" is in the centre, the "Ripper" is the wicked looking blade on the right, while the "Muncher" is the monster with the mad fluoro pink "eye" and the toothy jaws in front of the red door to the left. The workmen promised me that there is also a "Pulverizer" that will arrive later.
This I have to see!
plein air oil painting of the demolished Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at South Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
Left to right and top to bottom:
"Behind the red door"
2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 31cm
"Grabber, ripper,muncher"
2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 31cm
"Excavators at rest"
2010 oil painting on canvas 56 x 76cm
Enquiries about these paintings

A good day at the office! Three paintings completed before I was kicked out!
plein air oil painting of the demolished Wharf 8 cruise ship terminal at South Barangaroo by industrial heritage and marine artist Jane Bennett
Left to right and top to bottom:
"May open without warning"
2010 oil painting on canvas 56 x 76cm
"May close without warning"
2010 oil painting on canvas 56 x 76cm
Enquiries about these paintings
Everything must go!
This was the very last day that I was able to leave my easels and canvases inside the terminal.
I've been kicked out of Wharf 8 and now have moved my stuff into a room in the loading dock of the old Sydney Ports Corporation Maintenance Depot that has been recently used to display the designs for Barangaroo.
Not for long, apparently - Bovis LendLease has already moved the entrance twice and I've noticed construction of new site offices starting in the north-west corner.
This building will obviously be the next to go after the DH8 terminal.
Exactly when is anyone's guess.