To a Good Home- St Vincent's in the Art of Darlinghurst update

A few of the paintings in my exhibition at St Vincent's have found good homes. In fact, the best homes I could have imagined!
A couple of days ago a man walked past the Frances Keevil Gallery and saw the printed article, that I had cut out of the Sydney Morning Herald, on the door. He then went to the hospital to see the exhibition as he recognized the street and houses from the tiny photo of my painting. His parents had apparently lived in one of the houses. 
I'm not sure whether it was 372 Victoria Street, which later housed Diabetes Australia, or 374 Victoria Street, which later became the R.M.O. He then purchased these 2 paintings as treasured memories of his family history.

"Victoria st terraces Nos 372 - 374
- the Diabetes Centre and the RMO"
2009 oil on canvas 51 x 41cm
SOLD Enquiries about similar paintings

"Victoria st terraces - Diabetes Australia"
2009 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
SOLD Enquiries about similar paintings

'Victoria Street mural and the clinic'
2010 oil on canvas 38 x 76cm
SOLD Enquiries about similar paintings
 
Now I have heard that the purchaser of "Victoria Street mural and the clinic" intends to bequeath it to the hospital, where it will stay in the office as "an important reminder of our past".
Often I never get to discover the reasons why someone buys one of my paintings. I love to find their story about the place that has such meaning for them.
When I painted these works, I had received so many lovely comments from the patients and staff of the terraces and clinic, who had loved the World Aids Day mural and the surrounding buildings.
It means a lot to an artist for their artwork to be appreciated by someone with a personal connection to the subject matter. 
What I do really matters to me, rather than being some intellectual painterly exercise.
Often I have been asked "why do I paint the particular subjects that I do?". I struggle to find the exact words to describe the feelings that I have, as I am a much better painter than I am a writer, but the fate of these paintings goes right to the core of my reasons.
The first two paintings have filled in a missing chapter of someone's lost personal history. The painting of the mural and the clinic will now hang forever as a symbol of hope and recovery.

Related posts

St Vincent's- In the Art of Darlinghurst 

Both sides of the street - My new exhibition "St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst"

To see another photo from the opening night by Julie of "Sydney Eye" see "Craggy"(sydney-eye.blogspot.com.au).


Strike while the iron is hot
 
Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum
 
'From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo'
 
Storm warning, Goat Island
 
Eveleigh Community Heritage Day
 
Another one bites the dust

ATP Open Day - Saturday, 25 Feb 2012

Just wanted to let you know about the forthcoming Open Day, to be held at the Australian Technology Park on 25 February, 2012 from 10 am - 4 pm which includes a large range of heritage related events.
The inaugural Eveleigh Film Festival will commence a little earlier at 9.30 am with a tribute to JP McGowan, the son of an Eveleigh Railway steam locomotive driver who made many railway related films in Hollywood in the early 1900’s.

“Blacksmith of 'Wrought Artworks',
Eveleigh Railway Workshops” 
2009 oil on canvas 100 x 75cm

 Enquiries: janecooperbennett@gmail.com

                                  

In Bay 1 / 2 I will be exhibiting a selection of my paintings of the blacksmiths of Wrought Artworks on the very site on which they were painted.
The blacksmiths will be giving hand forging demonstrations on the anvil every half hour.

At 11 am and 2pm the Master Blacksmith Guido Gouvernor will give a spectacular demonstration of forging using the massive Victorian era heritage power hammers. I will be painting canvases to record these exciting events as they happen.

"The Forging Demonstration - All fired up"
2011 oil on canvas 36 x 46cm
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

My half - finished canvas of the
blacksmith forging a chisel. 

janecooperbennett@gmail.com

My half - finished canvas of
the blacksmith forging a chisel. 

Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

This shows the entire canvas against the background of this atmospheric time capsule of a bygone era.

My half - finished canvas of
the blacksmith forging a chisel.
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

 This shows  even more of the interior and the fascinating relics of the Industrial Revolution. Most of the machines are still in working order, as they have been lovingly cared for by the blacksmiths of Wrought Artworks.
These photos show my half finished large canvas of Chris Sulis, one of the blacksmiths quenching a chisel which he had just forged with one of the majestic Victorian era power hammers, which can be seen lurking in the background of the horizontal photo.
The forges of Bay 1/2, Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh Railway Workshops have been kept glowing for over 140 years!

“The 3801 steaming” 
2008 oil on canvas 36 x 28cm

 Enquiries about this painting:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com 

'The 'SMR 18'-interior of Large Erecting Shop' 
2007 oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

There will be a steam train, SMR 18, displayed near Channel 7 by the volunteers from 3801 limited

 I will also exhibit a selection of my paintings of the steam trains of the Large Erecting Shop nearby. 

I have included a canvas of SMR 18 inside the Large Erecting Shop in my exhibition.

See http://www.atpopenday.com.au/heritage

You can find further details at the following websites:

http://www.atpopenday.com.au/ http://eveleigh-film-fest.com/

Related posts

• Irons in the fire
  

• Watching the forge fires fade
• Playing with fire
  

• Macdonaldtown - A Station without a suburb
• Strike while the iron is hot

• Eveleigh- Industrial Heritage Artist at Work
  
•  Eveleigh paintings
• The village smithy (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)
• Time for Safety 
• The slow return from the fire 
• The fire within 
• En plein air with street cred (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)

Both sides of the street - My new exhibition "St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst"

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

In this exhibition I have hung 16 paintings of Victoria Street.
As the Xavier Art Space is a long corridor, I decided to add another 16 or so paintings of other inner city streetscapes.
Most of these other paintings whether of Pyrmont, White Bay, Surry Hills, Darlinghurst or Waterloo seem to be of pubs or former pubs. Derelict pubs like the Terminus, recently closed pubs like the Hopetoun, pubs that were burnt down in the dead of night under mysterious circumstances like the White Bay Hotel, or pubs that had a narrow escape from these fates and are enjoying a precarious Renaissance like the Iron Duke. There are also 2 paintings of the half-demolished Carleton United Brewery.
A minor irony was that Dr Robert Graham, who had kindly agreed to open my exhibition, was the head of Drug and Alcohol Treatment. Another minor irony is that I am (and have always been) a teetotaller.

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

Hanging my exhibition St Vincent's -In the Art of Darlinghurst
Enquiries about these paintings:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com

All of the paintings in this exhibition were painted "en plein air". Most of the art of other plein air painters concentrates on the natural environment and seems to be painted in a field or a wood. I prefer to paint inner city urban landscapes and all my art that hasn't been painted on a wharf, a ship or a demolition site, is painted by the side of the road.
"By the side of the road " is the common idiom, however this road was actually a street. "On the road" sounds almost romantic, evoking the ghost of Jack Keroac, whereas "on the street" has an air of desperation. I am often "on the road" when I paint - my car is a mobile studio with a fold-up table and chair and a French box easel in the boot at all times. I am not a "street" artist in the sense of a graffiti artist such as "Banksy", as I take my paintings home when I have finished painting them, although I bet that I spend a lot more time actually painting in the street. According to one definition Street Art  is traditionally unsanctioned  as opposed to a government funded initiatives . The artist attempts to have their work communicate with everyday people about socially relevant themes by placing their work in non-art contexts. In that sense, my art is definitely "street".

Many years ago a witless journalist stunned me into silence during a radio interview. After hearing a description of how I explored Sydney's urban landscapes outdoors instead of painting in my studio from photos, he turned the interview into farce by describing my art as  "streetwalking".
English can be a dangerous language full of traps for the unwary.
The word "street" I discovered has some odd quirks of meaning aside from its obvious use as a word for a paved thouroughfare. Some of these carry a lot of pejorative nuances.

Definitions of "Street"

1.  a situation offering opportunities ("He worked both sides of the street")
2.  as a depressed environment in which there is poverty and crime and prostitution and dereliction ("She tried to keep her children off the street")
3. The people who spend a great deal of time on the street in urban areas, especially the young, the poor, the unemployed, and those engaged in illegal activities.
4. (slang) Street talk or slang. 
5. (figuratively) a large amount ("He's streets ahead of his sister in all the subjects in school.")  
6. (poker slang) Each of the 3 opportunities that players have to bet, after the flop, turn and river.
7. Illicit, contraband, especially of a drug:e.g. "street drugs". 
8. not in prison, or released from prison. ("He's on the street again after leaving Long Bay jail")
9. Without a home; without the means to afford good shelter.
10. without a job or occupation; idle.

The term "street" is used with the preposition "in". Something is "in" the street, but "in" or "on" the road. To be "on the street" means to be living an insecure life, often one associated with homelessness or crime. To "hear something on the street" means to learn about something through rumor.
In the Middle Ages, a road or way was merely a direction in which people rode or went, the name street was always reserved for the built road.
The "Man in the street" meaning the ordinary non-expert person, is first recorded in 1831. Street-car is first recorded 1862. Street-walker "common prostitute" first recorded 1590s. Street people is first recorded 1967; street smarts is from 1972; and street-credibility is from 1979.

  The good and bad points of the urban environment are captured by the many meanings of the term "street" . It carries a feeling of fast-paced opportunity, reality and authenticity - but also uncertainty, edginess, decay and even a whiff of danger.

All the photos in this post were kindly taken by Frances Keevil, Director of the Frances Keevil Gallery, who also did most of the work hanging my show

Related posts in this blog

• Strike while the iron is hot
• Eveleigh Community Heritage Day
• Storm warning, Goat Island
• Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum

• St Vincent's- In the Art of Darlinghurst
• To a Good Home- St Vincent's in the Art of Darlinghurst update (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)

Update

The redoubtable flaneur and photographer Julie of "Sydney Eye" took some great photos at the opening of my exhibition which can be seen at "The poof factor"

St Vincent's- In the Art of Darlinghurst

 

Victoria st 2009 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

Enquiries

In December 2009 I was asked by some people who worked at St Vincent's if I could create paintings of some terrace houses on a Darlinghurst block adjacent to St Vincent’s Public Hospital. Almost an entire block of Victoria Street between the Garvan Institute and the Green Park Hotel would be replaced by the construction of a new 11-storey medical centre.

'Victoria Street mural and the clinic'

2010 oil on canvas 38 x 76cm

Enquiries

The structures on this side of Victoria Street included the RMO, the Diabetes Centre, the Rankin Court Clinic for Drug and Alcohol treatment and a bright green mural which honoured World Aids Day.

For another view of this now destroyed mural see the post "Monday Mural" on the fascinating blog of Sydney Eye

"Victoria st -The World AIDS Day Mural
between the Green Park Hotel and Rankin Court"
2010 oil on canvas 36 x 46cm
Enquiries

By the time that I started this series of paintings, these services were in the process of being relocated to neighbouring buildings. By mid 2010, the breakthrough new cancer treatment Centre, the Kinghorn Centre, was already under construction.

 

Victoria st terraces-The Mural to honour 'World AIDS Day'

2009-10 Ink, gouache on paper 43 x 61cm

Enquiries 
The Kinghorn Centre, which will be opened in June 2012, is a joint Garvan Institute and St Vincent's Hospital project. It will pioneer a revolutionary method of customizing patient treatment instead of the previous one-drug-fits-all approach.
In early December 2011, cancer survivor Delta Goodrem, who is the patron of the Kinghorn Centre, spoke to assembled staff and construction workers at its launch .
See articles:"Delta Goodrem helps break ground on cancer centre" ; Article in Daily Telegraph

'A Corinthian column, St Vincents' De Lacy wing'

2011 oil on canvas 20 x 20cm

My aim was to paint the exciting transition of the area from past to future. I painted all the works in this exhibition on site, sheltering under the awnings of the local restaurants and coffee shops, whose staff would keep an eye on my easel and belongings.

From the Green park Bandstand, I painted the classical facade of St Vincent’s heritage De Lacey wing framed by ferny canopies of lime green trees.

'An Ionic column, St Vincents' Public Hospital,

De Lacy wing' 2011 oil on canvas 20 x 20cm

Some of these buildings have heritage value, and all of them are regarded with genuine affection by the locals. Most of the architecture of this block has been compromised to a greater or lesser extent by tasteless modern extensions, but taken as a whole, they express the character of a colourful and unique area of Sydney street-life.
 

"Victoria st terraces-The RMO "
2009-10 oil on canvas 46 x 36cm
Enquiries 

The area is colourful and picturesque with a great diversity of buildings: from garish to subdued; from shabby to plush - and the characters who live, work and visit this area, rival the buildings for diversity and raffish charm.

"Victoria st terraces Nos 372-4 -

the Diabetes Centre & the RMO"

2009 oil on canvas 51x41cm.

SOLD
Enquiries

Victoria Street is a peculiar mélange of architecture ranging from the charming, to the quirky, to the downright hideous.

Hole-in-the-wall coffee bars contrast with the sleek corporate steel and glass of the Victor Chang Institute in the background.

In between a few examples of faded glamour it's scruffy and noisy but the place feels busy and vibrant.

An oasis of calm in all this frenetic activity is Green Park.

 

"Victoria st terraces-Diabetes Australia"

2009 oil on canvas 31x31cm.

 SOLD
Enquiries

English colonial grandeur rubs shoulders with crumbling terraces overgrown with vines and painted in brightly sub-tropical hues.

"Victoria st terraces-The RMO"

2009-10 Ink, gouache on paper 63 x 41cm

Enquiries 

My paintings of the buildings of this demolished block of Darlinghurst terraces honour the memories of the past, while celebrating the exciting possibilities of the future.
My exhibition will be held at the Xavier Art Space, Level 3 (which is the ground floor entry level) in the foyer of the St Vincent's Public Hospital. The Exhibition period is from 4 February - 8 March 2012, with the official opening on Tuesday night the 7th of February from 6-8pm. The works will be able to be viewed during the general hospital opening hours.
I am represented by the FRANCES KEEVIL GALLERY mob: 0411 821550

  info@franceskeevilgallery.com.au
The Director, Frances Keevil will be curating and hanging the exhibition.

For more information about my paintings of the Victoria Street Terraces see my Urban Landscape Page

Brewer's Droop - Painting the Carleton United Brewery, Chippendale

The southern edge of the Sydney CBD, adjacent to Central railway station incorporating Broadway and Chippendale, was dominated by a walled off 'Empire of Beer' for over 170 years.

Kent Brewery was built by John Tooth and Charles Newnham in 1835. It exploited the fresh water from nearby Blackwattle Creek. However, Blackwattle Creek didn't stay fresh for long, and soon the surrounding area was a notorious slum.

The unregulated and noxious local industries included the Swamp Abattoirs across Parramatta Road in Ultimo, which provided the Char House of the Colonial Sugar Refinery with bones to burn to produce charcoal for filtering sugar.

CH4 Pub with no beer- Carleton United Brewery 2
2009 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Available

When bubonic plague hit waterside Sydney in the first decade of the 20th century, the authorities embarked on a program of slum clearances and 350 Chippendale houses were resumed by 1911.

Tooth's brewery site moved into the vacuum, extending their empire of beer more than 6 acres into the surrounding residential areas. Tooth's owned the western side of Kensington Street, and demolished properties  to construct new brewery buildings, as well as a wall to exclude the public. Yet another wall was built on the northern side of Wellington Street.

You can see this wall running behind the Irving Street Brewery boiler house in the painting above, which was painted during the demolition craziness not long after the property had been bought by Frasers Property for redevelopment.

Tooth’s Irving Street Brewery was built in 1912, and covered most of the land between Carlton and Balfour Streets.

CH3 Pub with no beer- Carleton United Brewery
2009 oil on canvas 100 x 75cm
Available

This iconic Sydney landmark is an 180 ft high octagonal brick tapering structure with metal strapping with cracked coping. Brick buttresses transfer the structure to a square base. 

The Irving Street Brewing Tower ceased its brewing operation in 1979, as it was superseded by the New Brewhouse.

It was one of the earliest and most prominent chimney stacks built in the CBD, and one of the last remaining in inner Sydney.

In the 1980s, a large redevelopment saw the demolition of all but one of the original Kent Brewery buildings. and Carlton and Uniting Breweries purchased it.

Until 1983 there were 1000 personnel at the brewery including lab staff, engineers, plumbers, fitters and turners, coppersmiths, blacksmiths, coopers, trades assistants, storemen, drivers and security.

In 1983 Tooth and Co were taken over by the Adelaide Steamship Company and the brewing assets were sold to Carlton and United Breweries and in 2003 the brewery closed forever.

Frasers Property bought the 5.8 hectare site in 2007 and embarked on a wildly ambitious $2 billion urban renewal project. It incorporates mixed use development including high density apartments,student accommodation in Kensington and Abercrombie Streets, a shopping centre, office blocks, and the old Brewery will be turned into a boutique hotel.

In my paintings you can see how the Irving Street Brewery building resembled a ruined castle on an island in the middle of a moat. It was a dreadfully boggy site after all the other buildings were clear felled around it and therre was a perpetual pool of water surrounding the old brewery.

Some heritage features have been selectively kept in the mix. Run down terraces in Kensington Street have become "Spice Alley", a funky "Eat Street", the sandstone gateway has been kept and the Irving Street Brewery building has now been adaptively reused as a community facility while also housing the site’s sustainable features including the tri generation plant providing the power, heating and cooling.

Chippendale, once an embarrassing slum, is now the fashionable hipster enclave known as Central Park.

Related posts

Barangaroo-Red Square, the Drill Rig and a little Archaeology

My page of Urban Landscape paintings

Both sides of the Street- My exhibition at St Vincents

Painting the Tugboats of Sydney Harbour - the 'Wilga', 'Wonga' 'Woona' and 'Watagan'

Looking for suitable subject matter to paint for the Xmas exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery, I couldn't resist the tugs.

Now that there are fewer large ships coming in to Sydney Harbour, they are harder to spot.

'The 'Woona' passing Goat Island'
2011 oil on board 28 x 35cm

Enquiries about similar paintings

The best opportunities are when they escort the tankers in and out of Gore Cove, and when the cruise ships come in to Barangaroo. Peak cruise ship season is from October to the end of February, so this means a bumper crop of tugboat paintings.

'The 'Wonga' 2011 oil on board 28 x 35cm
Enquiries about similar paintings

My studio at Moore's Wharf, opposite Walsh Bay Wharves on the right and Barangaroo to the left, offers good vantage points for tug spotting.

As well as painting from the wharf at ground level when the weather permits, I have studio space on the top floor in the 'loft', which gives me a 'bird's eye view'.

'The 'Wilga' 2011 oil on board 28 x 35cm
Enquiries about similar paintings

In this set of paintings, I have varied the viewpoint and the background - the paintings of the 'Wilga' and the 'Wonga' feature the tugs alone against the sea and are painted from the top floor of Moore's Wharf; the 'Woona' (which has recently been repainted in its new livery of Naples yellow and navy - it used to be white with a black hull) is painted in late afternoon against the spectacular backdrop of Goat Island; and the 'Watagan', one of the smaller tugs, is shown dwarfed by the giant white cruise ship it is escorting.

'The 'Watagan' with the 'Pacific Dawn' 2011
oil on board 28 x 35cm

Enquiries about similar paintings 

And a tugboat in action - 'Watagan' bringing the 'Pacific Dawn' into Barangaroo's temporary cruise ship terminal.

Sydney's new cruise ship terminal will be built at White Bay, as soon as the old White Bay Transit Shed has been demolished.

In the meantime, there are a motley collection of vessels berthed there for me to paint.  

Starting my painting of  
'The 'PB Endeavour' at White Bay 
2011 oil on board 28 x 35cm
Painted en plein air at White Bay Wharf, Berth 5
Sold

Enquiries about similar paintings

All the previous paintings are of Svitzer tugs and painted from around Moore's Wharf.

This is the odd one out in the series, as it was painted at White Bay, and was tied up rather than out on the water. I thought that it would be a good contrast.

I fell in love with the pale blue tug PB Endeavour, one of the Pacific Basin Tugs.

I was admiring it when it has been berthed at White Bay Berth 5, next to the 'Bob Barker - Sea Shepherd'.

The PB Endeavour was launched just over a year ago, and was a bargain at $9 million or so ! I wish! But as it falls a little bit outside my budget, I'll have to settle for painting it.

'The 'PB Endeavour' at White Bay 
2011 oil on board 28 x 35cm
Painted en plein air at White Bay Wharf, Berth 5
Sold

Enquiries about similar paintings

'The 'PB Endeavour' at White Bay 
2011 oil on board 28 x 35cm
Painted en plein air at White Bay Wharf, Berth 5
Sold

Enquiries about similar paintings

'The 'PB Endeavour' at White Bay 
2011 oil on board 28 x 35cm
Painted en plein air at White Bay Wharf, Berth 5
Sold

Enquiries about similar paintings

I'll display this set of little tugboat paintings in the Xmas show at Frances Keevil Gallery, opening on Saturday 10th December 2011

Related posts

The White Shed at White Bay

"May close without warning" Solo Exhibition,Frances Keevil Gallery

May close without warning Part 2"All that is solid melts into air"

Sea no evil? Painting 'Sea Shepherd' at White Bay

Slipping awayArtist in Residence: Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 2 'Lady Hopetoun'Painting the 'Poolya' at Glebe Island

Boat at Goat