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

My photo
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.

Wednesday 24 June 2020

Blacksmith forging in the Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh Railway Workshops

Today's painting on my isolation deck gallery is of one of the blacksmiths in Bay 1/2 of the Locomotive Workshops, South Eveleigh, Eveleigh Railway Workshops.

Plein air oil painting of blacksmith in the Eveleigh Railway Workshops painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
E93 Blacksmith quenching chisels,
Eveleigh Railway Workshops 2011
oil on canvas 152 x 122cm

This canvas is so large that parts of it are obscured by the railing and roof of my pergola.
However, I did paint it from life - nervously trying to keep my oil paint and turps out of the way of the blacksmiths who were swiftly carrying red-hot metre long metal chisels from the forge and quenching them in a vat of boiling oil!
As you do!

Plein air oil painting of blacksmith in the Eveleigh Railway Workshops painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
E93 Blacksmith quenching chisels,
Eveleigh Railway Workshops 2011
oil on canvas 152 x 122cm



More recently, Matthew Mewburn of 'Eveleigh Works' has taken over this important and historically significant task.
The posts below include the stages of these paintings as works in progress on the easel, and some photos from several Open Days at the Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh Railway Workshops.

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)

Tuesday 23 June 2020

The Last of the Hungry Mile- Harbour Control Tower from East Darling Harbour Wharves

Today's canvas was painted from inside Wharf 4 in East Darling Harbour Wharves during the its last few weeks as a working port.
Plein air oil painting of Harbour Control Tower from East Darling Harbour Wharves (now Barangaroo) painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
DH181 The last of the Hungry Mile   
2007  oil on canvas  180 x 122cm
FINALIST 2007 SULMAN PRIZE














The once bustling wharf became a ghost town, as the cargo-loading infrastructure was dismantled, the 3 shore cranes were loaded onto barges for Port Kembla or Webb Dock, and anything remaining was put into storage or into a skip bin.
The wharf has now closed forever and Sydney’s traditional role as a working harbour is nearly over.
For Sydney Harbour to be stripped of its original character and purpose, was almost unthinkable.
Abandoned places have a haunting beauty.
They are points of temporary stasis in the turning world of urban change.
It was eerily silent; waiting for the demolition to start and the genesis of Barangaroo to begin.
Barangaroo is about hubris - a grand feat of ambitious central planning in search of a purpose. The vaunted economic rebirth of the area has like so much else been sent into hibernation by the Covid crisis.

Plein air oil painting of Harbour Control Tower from East Darling Harbour Wharves (now Barangaroo) painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
DH181 The last of the Hungry Mile   
2007  oil on canvas  180 x 122cm
FINALIST 2007 SULMAN PRIZE
























The columns of light poles point towards the Harbour Control Tower, which was one of the last vestiges of the working port in the area, and was demolished a few years later.
This Port Operations and Communication Centre was a milestone in the history and operation of the Port of Sydney. The construction of the tower gave oversight of maritime operations over all the Port of Sydney for the first time.
Nestling underneath, on the escarpment is the historic Hotel Palisade, once a rough waterside early opener, now gentrified for the expected inflow of tourists to Barangaroo on the west and the revamped Walsh Bay Wharves to the north-east.

Monday 22 June 2020

The Manly bus, Sydney Bus Museum

Today on the easel of my isolation deck gallery I'm showing another from my collection of paintings created in the Sydney Bus Museum.

Plein air oil painting of restoration of heritage Manly bus at the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS3 'Bob restoring the 1926 'White' 2017
 oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Available
















This was actually the first painting I started of the Sydney Bus Museum on my first visit in 2017, although it took me several visits to complete it.

Plein air oil painting of restoration of heritage Manly bus at the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS3 'Bob restoring the 1926 'White' 2017
 oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Available















It shows one of their most exciting restoration projects - the old 144 Manly bus, the 1926 'White', the first Government bus in NSW.

Plein air oil painting of restoration of heritage Manly bus at the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS3 'Bob restoring the 1926 'White' 2017
 oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Available
 
At that time, my family lived above their shop "Coopers" in the Corso, and my mum remembers catching this bus when she was very young. So when I saw this bus, it felt like a long lost family member!

Plein air oil painting of restoration of heritage Manly bus at the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS3 'Bob restoring the 1926 'White' 2017
 oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Available

The recently rebuilt drivers seat that was refurbished with a 2016 Transport Heritage NSW grant funding, has been trial fitted to the bus.
The original seat had unfortunately become rotten, so needed to be remade by the Bendigo Tramway workshops who were able to reuse the original base.

Plein air oil painting of restoration of heritage Manly bus at the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS3 'Bob restoring the 1926 'White' 2017
 oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Available

Robert Kendall is the master craftsman repairing the White's wooden skeleton with consummate skill.
He didn't realize it, but I was doing a sneaky portrait of him as he was so absorbed in his work!

Plein air oil painting of restoration of heritage Manly bus at the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS3 'Bob restoring the 1926 'White' 2017
 oil on canvas 51 x 76cm
Available

See more of my bus paintings

Sydney Bus Museum - painting Daimler doubledecker

Sunday 21 June 2020

Tie a yellow ribbon


Today's painting on the deck gallery is a streetscape of Merriman Street, Millers Point.
These colourful terraces are just next to the Barangaroo Headland Park, and at the time of painting, still lay in the shadow of the now demolished Harbour Control Tower, which actually used to have an entrance on Merriman street directly opposite the terraces in this canvas. The Palisade Hotel is just at the end of the street.
They face west and I caught them in the full light of the setting sun to enhance their faded gelato colours so reminiscent of the dilapidated charm of urban Cuba. I kept expecting to hear the Buenavista Social Club from every doorway.
They also reminded me of streetscapes by Jeffrey Smart and Edward Hopper. Behind the colourful facade is a threatening storm.
 
Plein air oil painting of Merriman Street Millers Point near Barangaroo painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
MP11 'Merriman st' 2014
oil on canvas 46 x 61cm
Available






















Sharp eyed viewers will be able to see yellow ribbons tied to the doors. A yellow ribbon had been used to mark a building destined for demolition, during the original Rocks clearances in the late 19th - early 20th century. The current residents adopted and repurposed this symbol to signal a building where the occupants were threatened with eviction.
Plein air oil painting of Merriman Street Millers Point near Barangaroo painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
MP11 'Merriman st' 2014
oil on canvas 46 x 61cm
Available


















The early 20th century slum clearances in Millers Point and the Rocks were performed under the pretext of saving the city from bubonic plague. The early 21st century clearances were of the community rather than the architecture, under the guise of economic rationalism.
First the maritime workforce, then the surrounding community was dispersed.
Until recently, the inner city had been regarded as a crowded, squalid slum, so the rich flocked to the suburbs. Now this has reversed, and the poor are pushed to the periphery. The city is spoilt rotten for resources and transport, while the hinterland has been starved.
Plein air oil painting of Merriman Street Millers Point near Barangaroo painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
MP11 'Merriman st' 2014
oil on canvas 46 x 61cm
Available





















Nearly 200 years of its colourful maritime past has been swept away with barely a token gesture to its previous existence.
Since this canvas was painted, most of Millers Point has passed into private hands, and many of the workers cottages were transformed into short term rental Air B'n'B. Ironically, due to another outbreak of plague (Covid 19 this time, not bubonic) almost exactly a century later, these short term rentals are now mostly vacant and from March to mid June 2020 the Isolation restrictions turned Millers Point into a ghost town.

Related posts


Saturday 20 June 2020

In the shadow of the Bridge -Night Observatory Hill

Today's painting on the deck gallery is a nocturne painted from Observatory Hill.
Plein air oil painting of nocturne of the Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Observatory Hill painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
O15 Night, The Rocks from Observatory Hill
2000 oil on canvas 84 x 112cm
Available
I've often painted the Rocks and Millers Point from this vantage point.
When I used to teach art classes, I'd give everyone a map of the best spots to sit so they could avoid having to include the Blues Point Tower!
Plein air oil painting of nocturne of the Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Observatory Hill painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
O15 Night, The Rocks from Observatory Hill
2000 oil on canvas 84 x 112cm
Available

































This view looks straight down Lower Fort Street where I have also frequently painted the heritage terraces, the Garrison church, the Harbourview and 'Hero of Waterloo' hotels.
Some of this collection are on my Miller's Point page in this blog.
It's a postcard perfect Sydney Harbour scene during the day. but at night the shadows make it evocative and mysterious.
The tales from the rowdy and sometimes sinister era of the Rocks 'Push' don't seem to be quite as distant at night!
Plein air oil painting of nocturne of the Rocks and Sydney Harbour Bridge from Observatory Hill painted by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
O15 Night, The Rocks from Observatory Hill
2000 oil on canvas 84 x 112cm

Related Posts

Vivid

No Place like home

Tie a yellow Ribbon

Friday 19 June 2020

Sydney Bus Museum - painting Daimler doubledecker

Today's painting on the deck gallery is a portrait of MTT Daimler CGV6 112 at the Sydney Bus Museum in Leichhardt. It has been under restoration to operating condition since 2016.

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm














It's had a rough life.

It was one of 15 Daimler doubledecker chassis ordered for use in Sydney. However they were rejected because their 4.95m chassis didn't meet the required specifications of 5,33m. 
Then they were sold to the Metropolitan Transport Service, Adelaide. The 54 seat bodies were then built in Granville, and driven overland to Adelaide.

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm




After being in service in Adelaide until 1960, no 112 was sold to a cattle station in the Coober Pedy area of South Australia.

In 1990 it was recovered for preservation - and driven over 1,000 miles back to Sydney!

It might have been too small, but it's tough!

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm

I painted this on site in the Bus Museum at Leichhardt, and some of the volunteers are in the background.

Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett

BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker

2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm

  











Oil painting of doubledecker bus in the Sydney Bus Museum by industrial heritage artist Jane Bennett
BUS11 Restoration of Daimler doubledecker
2017 oil on canvas 61 x 31cm


See more of my bus paintings























Thursday 18 June 2020

No 'glamping' on Cockatoo Island

This is a painting of the Utility crane in front of Sutherland Dock, Cockatoo Island.
Plein air painting of industrial heritage, crane at Sutherland Dock Cockatoo Island painted by industrial artist Jane Bennett
CK36'Cockatoo Island- Crane, Sutherland Dock and the escarpment'
2006 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Enquiries

For the last decade, the public has been allowed to visit the island, but when I painted this in 2006, it was still off limits.
The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust was frantically fixing up the infrastructure to be able to open it to tourists. I would travel by barge at the crack of dawn from Mort's Dock with the other workmen.
Plein air painting of industrial heritage, crane at Sutherland Dock Cockatoo Island painted by industrial artist Jane Bennett
CK36'Cockatoo Island- Crane, Sutherland Dock and the escarpment'
2006 oil on canvas 75x100cm
Enquiries

In the afternoon, I had to make sure I didn't miss the last barge back to the mainland, or I'd have to spend the night there.
Now there is 'glamping', but back then there were no facilities at all! No tents, no shelter - I occasionally spent the odd night in a tunnel, which was creepy. There wasn't even drinkable water & we all got terribly sick until we learnt to bring our own water!
Plein air painting of industrial heritage, crane at Sutherland Dock Cockatoo Island painted by industrial artist Jane Bennett
CK36'Cockatoo Island- Crane, Sutherland Dock and the escarpment'
2006 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm
Enquiries

20 years before, I had painted on the island, near the end of its life as a working shipyard.

Related Posts


Wednesday 17 June 2020

Isolation Gallery- Walsh Bay

Today's painting featured in my Isolation gallery is from over 20 years ago. It shows the redevelopment of Walsh Bay Wharves.
Isolation gallery-oil painting of redevelopment of Walsh Bay Wharves by artist Jane Bennett
W33 'Walsh Bay Wharves from Wharf 8-9'
1999 oil on canvas 61 x 101cm
I was 'Artist in Residence' at the Woolloomooloo Fingerwharves during their redevelopment & refurbishment in the late 1990s. Many of the same construction workers later worked on the transformation of Walsh Bay Wharves a couple of years later, so they inherited me as 'Artist in Residence'.
I painted the derelict, fire-ravaged and soon to be demolished Wharves 6-7  from the interior of Wharf 8-9.
The green netting and bright yellow boom contrasts with the red brick and weathered timber of the wharves.
Isolation gallery-oil painting of redevelopment of Walsh Bay Wharves by artist Jane Bennett
W33 'Walsh Bay Wharves from Wharf 8-9'
1999 oil on canvas 61 x 101cm
I can't believe how much this area has changed since this painting!
Barangaroo has replaced the East Darling Harbour Wharves, aka 'The Hungry Mile', one of the last relics of Sydney's Working Harbour. 
The residents of Millers Point have mostly been relocated, & the area almost resembles a ghost town.
W33 'Walsh Bay Wharves from Wharf 8-9'
1999 oil on canvas 61 x 101cm