Black cat of Union Square

Are black cats lucky?

People seem to be equally divided into those who think its lucky to have a black cat cross their path, and those who think it's very unlucky.

I feel this cat was a lucky omen for this particular nook of Pyrmont.

Union Square, in contrast to many other parts of Pyrmont, had kept much of its original character. Unlike many other inner city neighbourhoods, this one has so far dodged the relentless rollout of Westconnex and other highways and tollways that has blitzed several other nearby suburbs on the fringe of the city.

In 2009, the NSW Government's proposal for a Metro entrance in the charming historical precinct of Union Square had threatened to obliterate one of the last remaining vestiges of Pyrmont's heritage. But times and governments change, and the whole project was cancelled in 2010. The vaguely Parisian atmosphere of Union Square remains a charming contrast to the bloated pomposity of the Star Casino only a block away. 

P277 Union Square Terraces + Paternoster Row

2011 oil on canvas  31 x 103cm

Available

One of the many joys of plein air painting is that the time that I have to spend looking at my subject reveals tiny details lost to a more casual observer.

On the corner of Union st and Paternoster Row there is a faded and clumsily drawn painting of an almost headless black cat, which goes mostly unnoticed by the passing cyclists. It fascinates me that this cryptic little fragment has somehow escaped being scraped off or obliterated with a schmick new paint job.

It was painted by an eccentric street artist Bruno Dutot some time between about 1989 and 1991 before the arrival of a more strident fashion in graffiti from New York a few years later.

P277 Detail of cat painted on wall-
Union Square Terraces + Paternoster Row
2011  oil on canvas  31 x 103cm
Available

This fragment of a cat once had a very soigne companion, painted in a style reminiscent of Erte, but in an endearingly amateur fashion. She was a slender, highly stylized and stylish woman called rather weirdly, "Oucha", and versions of this image cropped up all over the inner city in her heyday of the late 1980s - 1990s.

I remember passing her strangely elongated image on the corner of Union Square and Paternoster Row, back in the days when Union Square had two-way traffic and was a shortcut to the Fishmarkets and Glebe.

P274 Union Square Terraces 4 -
a little piece of Paris in Pyrmont
 2010 oil on canvas  31 x 61cm
Available

The painting above shows Union Square from Paternoster Row down to Pyrmont Street. It was painted in 2010, just before the cancellation of the Metro plans had been made public.

Back then, the chimneys of the Pyrmont Power Station loomed over the terraces of Union Square instead of the equally monolithic Casino. The 'Harlequin Inn' which can be seen to the right of this canvas, on the corner of Union Square and Harris Street, was then the more down at heel 'Duke of Wellington' and boasted a huge and incongruous cartwheel as a wall feature. The two way road has been transformed into a one way lane with a large pedestrian area circling the "Angel of Union Square", with seating and odd sandstone 'mushrooms' (actually part of the balustrade salvaged long ago from the now pedestrianized Pyrmont Bridge) But, essentially, very little has changed in Union Square since the 1980s.

P242 Pyrmont Post Office
1993 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Available

The painting above was painted in the early 1990s from the other end of Union Square, and shows the intersection of Union Square and Miller Street as a two-way street before it became a plaza. The "Angel of Union Square" is in the centre and behind her is the Commonwealth Bank painted a particularly horrid shade of "Paddington Pink". On the extreme right is a corner of the "Duke of Wellington" Hotel, and on the right is the golden sandstone archway of the Walter Liberty Vernon designed Pyrmont Post Office.

The last example of "Oucha" that I know of, can still be seen on a corner of Edgecliff road on the left hand side travelling from the city towards Edgecliff. She is occasionally repainted, possibly even by the original artist, and sometimes decorated with glitter.

She and her cat are relics of a less worldly age.

The wall above the cat has an obvious tidemark where "Oucha" has been painted over with more enthusiasm than skill and it remains distinctly two-toned.

P276 Angel of Union Square
2010 oil on wood 23 x 12cm
Available

The lovely First World War monument known locally as the "Angel of Union Square" seems to have had a protective effect over her square, acting as a shield against marauding developers.

But I like to think of the little faded and forgotten black cat as her mascot.

See more paintings of Union Square at the Pyrmont page in my blog

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The wheels on the bus go round and round - Painting the London Bus at the Sydney Bus Museum

Today's painting on the deck gallery is another canvas painted at the Bus Museum in September 2017.

BUS 7 London bus' 2017
oil on canvas 51 x 25.5cm
Available

The London bus is having its wheels checked.

On the easel at Sydney Bus Museum
BUS 7 London bus' 2017
oil on canvas 51 x 25.5cm
Available

After World War II, London Transport bought over 6,000 double deckers, all built to a standardized design, mostly the AEC Regent III RT type, similar to the pre-war AEC buses.
The first prototype, known as the AEC Routemaster, was completed in September 1954 and the last one was delivered in 1968.
The first Routemasters entered service with London Transport in February 1956 and the last withdrawn from regular service in December 2005, although one heritage route still operates in central London. The Routemaster outlasted several of its replacements in London, and even survived the privatization of the London Transport bus operators .

BUS 7A  Study for London Bus,

Sydney Bus Museum

2019 oil on canvas 23 x 13cm
Available
BUS 7 London bus' 2017
oil on canvas 51 x 25.5cm
Available
In front of my patient model
at Sydney Bus Museum

The Routemaster had a pioneering design using lightweight aluminium and techniques developed in aircraft production during World War II. It also introduced innovative design features such as independent front suspension, power steering, a fully automatic gearbox and power-hydraulic braking, for the first time ever on a bus. Drivers found the Routemaster surprisingly light and nimble compared with earlier designs.

One of their main advantages was that the body could be lifted off the chassis during overhaul.The London fleet contained more bodies than chassis, as overhauling the body took longer than the chassis. A bus could go in for overhaul in the morning, and come out that afternoon with a different body.
In 2006, the Routemaster was voted one of Britain's top 10 design icons which included Concorde, Mini, London tube map, World Wide Web and the K2 telephone box.

BUS 7A  Study for London Bus,

Sydney Bus Museum

2019 oil on canvas 23 x 13cm

Available

This was my first much smaller study of the London bus

The Museum's bus, AEC RT - 3708, was registered NLE-815, and started life in May 1953 with a 'green' Weymann 8545 body, the most common type.

I don't know what it is about the colour, but I can't imagine a London bus in any other colour than red. Must make it go faster!

It had 3 overhauls during its London Transport career - in 1956, 1961, and it didn't get fitted with the iconic 'red' body until its final overhaul in 1965.

It ended its days at Southall garage, then was sold in March 1977, imported to Australia in 1984 and purchased by the Museum in 1989.

BUS 7 London bus' 2017

oil on canvas 51 x 25.5cm

Available

All information is courtesy of the experts of the Sydney Bus Museum

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The Milky bar kid - old milkbar 74 Harris Street

Today's painting on the easel of my deck gallery is a 2009 plein air oil painting of a derelict abandoned old shop in Pyrmont, fondly, but wrongly known as the "old bakery".

P257A 'Old milkbar aka 'bakery'
corner of John and Harris St'
2009 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available

As far as I can remember the actual bakery was a few doors down and the corner shop was a milkbar, but we're talking at least 3 decades ago.

My standout memory of it when it was in its last days of operation was how rubbish I was at playing their "Fussball" machine, which was lines of wooden footballers attached to a stick that you tried to manoeuver by a lever to kick the ball.
Not a single goal!

The legendary Terminus Hotel on the opposite side of Harris Street, and like its more famous counterpart, was part of the Wakil's real life Monopoly game. They had a landbanking empire of quirky, derelict buildings which were loathed by local residents as eyesores but cherished by artists like myself.

Aren't Artists a perverse bunch - we ignore all the shiny new developments and make straight for the 'shame of the neighbourhood' to immortalize it!

P257A 'Old milkbar aka 'bakery'
corner of John and Harris St'
2009 oil on canvas 51 x 61cm
Available

The continuous row of 19th century 2 storey terrace houses between Nos 74 and 80 Harris Street are still part of the Wakil collection of formerly derelict buildings, which once included the iconic Terminus Hotel opposite.

The row of  terraces have rendered brick shopfronts and skillion roofed wings at the rear. They are plainly detailed, with only a string course to the facades as decoration, and a Victorian/Georgian flavour in their design. Door openings are rectangular, and window openings are also rectangular as well as slightly segmentally arched. They are without parapet or verandahs and feature corrugated iron gable roofs with low corniced or corbelled chimneys.

P256A 'Old Milkbar (aka 'Bakery'),
corner of Harris and John St'
2009 acrylic on paper 21 x 28cm
Available

No 74 is similar to the rest, but was a corner shop and is faceted with a corner entrance. It  was a milkbar for a long time, although often and wrongly referred to as the 'old bakery'.
Number 82 was the actual site of the "old bakery", although now the entire block seems to have adopted this name.

P257 'Old bakery corner of John and Harris St'
2012 oil on board  35 x 28cm
Available

For many years the corner and north facing doorways were boarded up and featured an endless layering of illegal posters promoting long forgotten bands.

 

P256B 'Old Milkbar and 'Chicks on Harris''
2009 acrylic on paper 21 x 28cm
Available

Until about 2014, No 82 still partly kept up the milk bar tradition,traded as a "charcoal chicken" outlet called "Chicks on Harris".

Bearing in mind the seedy reputations of previous establishments at the north end of Harris St, I'm not sure that the owners had really thought through the implications of their name!

Milk bars are now imbued with mythical qualities they never possessed in life. In decline and death, they’re trendy and retro.


P256 'Black Dog (old milkbar -
aka 'bakery' from John St)'
2009 oil on board 31 x 25cm
Available

No 74 has now been recently and very sympathetically redeveloped by the current occupants - appropriately, 'Belle Property' real estate agents. And now it really is a 'belle' property indeed.

It's been painted a tasteful off-white shade, and the former layers of peeling posters have been replaced by large picture windows.

I couldn't resist having a sneaky peek inside.

The interior still has the original wall material visible, and the beautiful old hardwood stairs have been polished, but otherwise in their original state. The architraves are dark walnut stained hardwood, but the rotting floors had collapsed long ago and had to be replaced with polished concrete.

The huge tree outside is a relic from when both sides of John Street were edged with a row of trees whose branches would meet in the middle of the street to form a cathedral-like canopy. Lush and cool in summer, but most beautiful in winter when the feeble rays of the sun would pierce through the tracery of bare branches.

A lovely tree, but its roots went straight for the plumbing, and the pavement outside is cracked and humped by the twisting roots underneath. I know that a few years ago, several people had considered this old shop on as a renovation project, but weren't quite crazy-brave enough to take it on.

For more information about Harris and John Street in Pyrmont, including the Terminus and Pyrmont Point Hotels

see My Pyrmont page in this blog

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Painting Spirit of Tasmania in drydock Garden Island

Today's painting on the deck shows a plein air painting of the Spirit of Tasmania 1 in Captain Cook drydock, Garden Island.


GI 5 'Spirit of Tasmania 1 in Captain Cook drydock'
2013 oil on canvas 45 x 92cm

It was an amazing experience to watch the whole operation of drydocking and I was so lucky to be able to paint it from the floor of the drydock, with the immense bulk of the ship looming up above me.

On this occasion the Spirit of Tasmania 1 was in drydock for about 3 weeks between July and August 2013.

Every sea-going vessel has to undergo this maintenance process twice within a period of 5 years.

GI 5 'Spirit of Tasmania 1 in Captain Cook drydock'
2013 oil on canvas 45 x 92cm

When the ship arrives at the dock, it has to be positioned accurately so that when the water is pumped out it will rest exactly on the blocks at the bottom of the dock.

Once the ship is in position, the entrance to the dock is closed using a watertight gate, known as a caisson, sealing the ship off from the rest of the harbour.

The time from when the stern of the ship first touches the blocks, to when the full weight of the ship is bourne by the blocks is the most crucial and potentially dangerous period in the entire operation.

The ship must rest on an even keel and not be lopsided or tilting down at one end.

Even 1 metre off the sender line could result in the ship toppling over.

Care also must be taken that the ship doesn't refloat after it is resting on the blocks.

When the ship is finally resting on the blocks it is called "Taking the blocks" and after all the water has been pumped out of the dock, then the inspection, cleaning and repairs can be carried out.

GI 11 'Captain Cook drydock Garden Island'

2013 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm

An awe-inspiring 280 million litres of water had to be pumped out of the Captain Cook graving dock before work on the ship can begin.

It is a hypnotic sight to watch the water slowly drain over a period of several hours.

This is a painting of the southern end of the dock, and inside the walls you can see the black depth indicators pointing like giant rulers into the bottom of the dock.

Plein air oil painting  of Spirit of Tasmania 1
in Garden Island Drydock

Dry dock walls are built on a heroic scale. They need to resist the enormous hydrostatic forces unleashed when the dock is being dewatered.

They reminded me of the monumental architecture of lost ancient civilizations such as the Egyptian, Mesopotamian or Aztec.

GI 5B 'Fabulous flying forklift in Captain Cook drydock'
2013 oil on canvas 10 x 10cm

Heavy machinery such as forklifts, cranes and scissor lifts were then lowered onto the dock floor by the two cranes on either side of the dock.
In my largest canvas you can see no fewer than 8 cranes, as well as 2 portaloos!
It was a very long walk up to the surface!

The first major job was to wash the slime off the outer shell plating with high pressure waterjets. Although this certainly does make the ship look much prettier, the real reason is that it helps reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Then the outer shell plating is coated with anti- corrosive paint, as seawater takes an enormous toll on any surface exposed to it. Any parts of the ship that will be submerged are then painted with a coat of anti-fouling paint.

GI 5A 'Workmen on Spirit of Tasmania 3
in Captain Cook drydock'
2013 oil on canvas 10 x 10cm 

Propellor blades, rudders, underwater valves, cathodic protection systems, anchors and cables must be inspected for corrosion and cracks.

There was also extensive work on the interior and the stern doors.

GI 7 'Andre on bridge of Spirit of Tasmania 1
in Captain Cook drydock'
2013 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm

I included many of the contracters in my series of paintings. This, painted from the bridge of the ship also shows the soon to be demolished Hammerhead Crane set against the scenic backdrop of  the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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