Painting Barangaroo

Transmogrify

2011-10-25T10:46:00.000+11:00

Definitions

(verb) To transform into some other person or thing, as by magic; convert or transform in general.
To completely alter the form of.

Notes

'Transmogrify' was coined around the 1650s, and is perhaps a combination of 'transmigrate,' pass from one country or jurisdiction to another; to pass from one body into another; to cause to pass or migrate from one region or state of existence to another; and 'modify,' to change the properties, form, or function of

Starting painting "Panorama of Moore's Wharf and ships" oil on canvas 25 x 152cm

This canvas was started on 2 August 2011, but has been through quite a number of permutations and still isn't finished. I wanted a record of the hidden side, the working side of this lovely heritage sandstone building, and I kept changing my mind about what to include or leave out. So buildings, boats and trucks got painted in and out dozens of times. It's been quite a wrestling match between me, the surroundings, the workers and the canvas!


This is the original idea for the composition. The perspective was complex and challenging, even before people started to move things around.


Then 'Fast Eddy' parked his truck in front of the blue container...

The bottom right hand corner of the canvas looked a little empty anyway, so I started to paint the truck.

Then the truck left before I had a chance to finish painting it. They don't call him 'Fast Eddy' for nothing!

A frustrating day spent scraping off paint and re-applying it without making the painting any better.
The lone fisherman on the end of Wharf 8/9, Walsh Bay Wharves opposite called out to me as he left "Skunked?"
"What?!" I called back. There were a few little fish in the water, but no skunks. I wondered if he was referring to me and what he meant by it. I was unsure if I should resent it or take it as a compliment.

Apparently to be "skunked" is to go home without catching at least one fish!
No, I didn't "catch any fish" that day. However by pulling this painting apart and putting it back together again I've learnt a lot about perspective problems, plein air painting, the wharf and how it works.


The truck has been excised and I can now turn my attention to painting the 'Shirley Smith'.

The brilliant red and yellow of the 'Shirley Smith' is a delight to paint against the cobalt blue sky. However, the format of this canvas is an extreme horizontal panorama, and now the brilliance of 'Shirley' threatens to overpower everything else in the painting.

I increase the relative size of the Moore's Wharf building to balance the composition.

It still needs some tweaking. Notice that I've added a little orange pilot boat the "Port Jackson" between the crane and Moore's Wharf.

This is a small oil study from another angle of the "Port Jackson" being lifted back into the water after the blokes had finished cleaning her. I was made to move my position, as I would have been in the way.

However, the bottom right hand corner still looks too empty to balance the composition...

Fortunately 'Fast Eddy' brought another truck back, and someone obligingly left the little yellow forklift in front of the north end of Moore's Wharf. Now there might be enough red and yellow on the right hand side of the painting to balance the 'Shirley Smith'.

Sitzkrieg (barangarooartist.blogspot.com)
View from the ivory tower (barangarooartist.blogspot.com)
"May close without warning" My Solo Exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)
Bacon and Eggs in Miller's Point (barangarooartist.blogspot.com)
Power Base - Artist in Residence at the White Bay Power Station (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)

Sitzkrieg

2011-10-17T22:18:00.002+11:00

A stalemate
Warfare marked by a lack of aggression or progress.
inaction, doing little or nothing
phoney war
Etymology

Coined on the model of blitzkrieg : German Sitz, act of sitting; see sitz bath + German Krieg, war; see blitzkrieg.

For almost a year there has been an eerie paralysis at Barangaroo. After the last wharf was demolished, the excavators went home.
Nothing much has been happening. Just waiting.
Waiting for court challenges to be resolved, waiting for a change of government, waiting for a "short, sharp" review of the project.
Now the phoney war is over.
The calm before the storm has ended.
The demolition has finished. Barangaroo has begun.
LendLease has started deep excavation at the southern end.The excavators have reawakened from their hibernation, and the first crane has arrived.
At the northern end, a ziggurat of sandstone blocks has appeared. Sheets of black plastic cover the holes in the ground from where they have been extracted. The quantity of high quality yellowblock here could refurbish every heritage sandstone building from Macquarie Street to Sydney University, but that won't be its fate. It is doomed to become the Barangaroo Headland Park. Quarrying beautiful yellowblock sandstone, only to cover it with grass or throw it in the water - it's a crying shame.

North Barangaroo Headland Park from my studio in the loft at Moore's Wharf


Painting of "North Barangaroo Headland Park from my studio in the loft at Moore's Wharf "31 x 61cm oil on canvas 2011

"The North Barangaroo Headland Park painted from my studio in the loft at Moore's Wharf "31 x 61cm oil on canvas 2011

And the sinister blue border line wiggles ever closer to Moore's Wharf, home of Sydney Ports Corporation's Emergency Response Tugs.

Cut off

2011-08-30T15:29:00.000+10:00

To remove via cutting.
To isolate or remove from contact
To end abruptly.
A designated limit beyond which something cannot function or must be terminated
Break a small piece off from

At 4pm last Friday afternoon, I arrived back at Moore's Wharf after a day spent putting the finishing touches on my enormous painting of White Bay Power Station.
I saw a crane through the trees of Clyne Reserve, the pocket hankerchief size park next to the Sydney Harbour Control Tower.
The men in the workbox were from Telstra. They were removing Telstra's communications equipment from the strange little "belt" around the waistline of the Tower.
There is something symbolic about the phones being cut off in a building devoted to communications.

"Sydney Harbour Control Tower and Clyne reserve" 2007 oil painting on canvas 46 x 36 cm SOLD

This is the Tower in earlier days when East Darling Harbour Wharves were still operational.
I have been told that everything has to be stripped out of there by the end of September.

The Barangaroo Development Corporation want to buy it, if they haven't already done so.
The prospect of its demolition inches ever closer.
Won't be long now.
I wonder if it will last until the opening of my exhibition?
I'll be showing other Barangaroo paintings from the 11th -30th October 2011 in my solo exhibition "May close without warning" at the Frances Keevil Gallery,Bay Village, 28-34 Cross St, Double Bay 2028.

Enquiries : info@franceskeevilart.com.au
"Sydney Harbour Control Tower is looking at a fall"
Henry Budd: The Daily Telegraph August 05, 2011

View from the ivory tower

2011-08-26T22:45:00.000+10:00

Millers Point from top of Harbour Tower ink acrylic gouache on paper 120 x 131cm

HIGHLY COMMENDED : 2011 Royal Easter Show

A moody charcoal and ink drawing of a bird's eye view of Miller's Point in the early morning from the Harbour Control Tower. This panorama is a study for an even larger oil painting on canvas, which could be my farewell to the Tower. Every time I go up there may be my last, so I treasure every moment.

If I arrive early enough at Moore's Wharf, I've been allowed to tag along when people from Sydney Ports Corporation have to pack up and remove various bits of flotsam and jetsam from the Tower. On my last visit, the first aid and cardiac equipment was removed, so that gives everyone extra incentive to watch their cholestrol and not to hoe into the chocolate cornettos kept temptingly in the fridge at Moore's Wharf.

Now the entrance is from the bottom level via the Barangaroo gatehouse on Hickson Road, as the entrance from the Merriman Street level has been shut and locked. Merriman Street has a charming cluster of heritage terraces perched on top of the sandstone escarpment and is bordered by the now empty Palisade Hotel at one end and Clyne Reserve at the other.

At least 2 people have to be present on a Harbour Tower visit, just in case the lift packs up, although exactly what the second person could do if anything happened except sympathize is anyone's guess. It's a frightening thought, as mobile phone reception is not too good in there at the best of times.

The lifts always seemed to be out of order whenever I had an especially large canvas. 4 separate trips up the interminable flights of stairs to the amenities floor (canvases, table and chair, easel, trolley luggage with my painting medium and brushes and lunch) then 2 extra flights to the top floor to sign the register book, then back down to the amenities block to get some painting done. And then at the end of the day, the journey in reverse - but with an extra trip, as a large wet painting has to be kept away from anything else.
The tower sways in the wind, sometimes almost imperceptively, and sometimes with a rolling motion that can induce seasickness. It can be distracting when trying to paint fine details.
The perspective is made more complex by the landbridges over the twisting streets winding their way from the angled rows of Walsh Bay Wharves up the hills. The entire suburb of Millers Point lies at my feet.
There was such an overwhelming mass of tiny details that I needed to tackle this subject in tone and line before risking getting bogged down in an oil painting. I wanted to understand the rhythm of the landscape. Previously I had painted many sections of this scene, but this was an ambitious attempt to unify the views from 4 windows in 3 separate rooms into a single cohesive work.
Unfortunately this drawing's frame was badly scratched at the Royal Easter Show, so I'm getting my gallery to re-frame it. It's expensive to frame large works on paper and I try to avoid it when possible, but I think that this will be one of the key works in my solo exhibition. The title of the exhibition is "May close without Warning" and will be held from the 13th - 30th October 2011 at the Frances Keevil Gallery, Bay Village, 28- 34 Cross Street, Double Bay 2028.

Bacon and eggs in Miller's Point Part 2

2011-08-17T22:07:00.003+10:00

I finished my painting of the Harbour Control Tower by lunchtime. At last I was able to move my cramped, chilly limbs and choose a position for the afternoon painting where I could bask in the feeble winter sunlight.
The brickwork of the Argyle Cafe actually is quite dark, but it glows burnt orange as it was caught in the afternoon sun. The warmth contrasts beautifully with the deep green awnings and timberwork of the windows.

Painting the 'Argyle Cafe, late afternoon Millers Point'2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm

On the walls are many interesting artefacts including an original "Times" newspaper of 7th November 1805 with details of the Battle of Trafalgar and Lord Nelson's death. A copy of the hotel's first licence, and other interesting pieces helps give the hotel its authentic 1800s atmosphere.

Bacon and Eggs in Miller's Point (barangarooartist.blogspot.com)
Great Pubs for Sydney Visitors - The Rocks (sydneyexpert.com)
Artist in Residence at the Aroma Coffee Festival - the Post Mortem (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)

Bacon and Eggs in Miller's Point

2011-08-15T23:14:00.002+10:00

After hearing disturbing rumours about the future of the Harbour Control Tower, I arrived at the crack of dawn to check that my easels on the top floor and the Tower itself were still standing.
By 8am I was tempted by the delicious aroma of a breakfast fryup of bacon and eggs wafting from the Argyle Cafe on the corner of Argyle and High Streets.
A good old fashioned breakfast in a good old fashioned suburb.
After breakfast I decided to look for a spot to paint and wandered only a couple of metres away from the doorstep.
The giant mushroom head of the Harbour Control Tower loomed over Munn's Reserve, the odd little park I had so often noticed without bothering to find out its name. It perches on top of the land bridge above Hickson's Road and consists of a couple of trees, a patch of lawn, a seat or two in the middle of heritage cobblestones and railings.
On the western edge of Munn's Reserve, is the Palisade Hotel, which has recently been renovated with a charmless canopy that sits like a badly fitting cap over its crenallated roof. Now it lies dormant, its future as uncertain as the rest of the suburb.
Yet another "pub with no beer". I have just completed a painting of the "Terminus Hotel", a derelict hotel in Pyrmont, another former working class suburb which has been gentrified beyond belief.
If the Tower is demolished for access to the Barangaroo Headland Park, it would be difficult to predict the effect on the surrounding streets.It wouldn't make economic sense to start trading amidst all the confusion and noise of demolition and construction.
I thought that I should take the opportunity to paint the area in what might be some of its final moments of peace and quiet.

Painting 'Munn's reserve Millers Point'2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm

Some of the patrons of the Argyle are watching me paint while they polish off their breakfast. I can hear fragments of muttering "Wonder when she'll stick the trees in...not bad...is she going to put the old Palisade in? And then a few familiar voices - a couple of people who bought some of my paintings at the "Trains, Cranes and Ships" exhibition on Observatory Hill, which is just a couple of hundred metres up the road. This show was in December 2007, just after the wharfies left the East Darling Harbour Wharves for Port Kembla and Port Botany, not really that long ago, but already it seems like a bygone era.
More familiar faces - some of the Sydney Ports workers from Moores Wharf just down the hill have also been raising their cholesterol with a bacon and egg breakfast. Apparently they had also bought some of my paintings from the same show.
I must really take up the kind invitation to paint Moore's Wharf as soon as possible.
If the Harbour Tower goes, there could be increased pressure to vacate Moore's Wharf. After all, it has been moved once already, so the precedent has been set.

Starting the Painting 'Munn's reserve Millers Point'2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm

A calm winter morning. Sunny, but clear, crisp and cold. I think that you can tell this with the colour palette of this canvas. Unfortunately I have chosen a shaded spot which makes it even colder. I rush to finish and choose another position for the afternoon painting, but the chill is making my fingers slow and clumsy.

Painting 'Munn's reserve Millers Point'2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm

I use the cold as an excuse to drink some more of the Argyle's delicious coffee. It warms up my fingers and I finally get my act together and finish my canvas.

'Munn's reserve Millers Point' 2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm
$990
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings

I've just sold this little painting at my exhibition "May close without warning" in the Frances Keevil Gallery.
To the far left is a sliver of the Palisade Hotel, but in this work I wanted to dwell on the unexpected aspects of Miller's Point rather than the more obviously famous landmarks.Behind the gnarled trees and sandstone pavers, the workers terraces of Merriman Street are bathed in the cool winter morning light.
At the moment Miller's Point still possesses the raffish charm that its more famous and uglier sister suburb, The Rocks, has now totally lost. It is still quiet and quaint, and the people in the streets are mostly residents and local workers rather than tourists. What a difference a couple of hundred metres can make.
But for how long?

The Empty Wharf

2011-05-30T11:50:00.001+10:00

Ghost Tower

The empty wharf' oil on canvas 25 x 51 cm 2009

It's finally happened.

Sydney Ports Corporation has moved out of the Sydney Harbour Control Tower at Barangaroo and into their spiffy new purple and silver premises at Port Botany.

The mushroom head of the tower now stands, isolated on the empty wharf, looming above the holes and piles of demolition rubble starting to accumulate around its base.

The construction workers and excavators appear like rats nibbling away here and there until the entire complex collapses.

There was no fanfare or publicity to mark the end of an era.

Only an eerie silence.

Painting Miller's Point from the top of Harbour Control Tower New Year's Eve 2010- Part 4:Through a glass darkly

2011-01-08T22:20:00.001+11:00

Painting on New Year's Eve 2010 from Amenities Level at the top of the Sydney Port's Harbour Control Tower.

Painting on New Year's Eve 2010 from Amenities Level at the top of the Sydney Port's Harbour Control Tower Painting of Barangaroo at sunset, waiting for the fireworks.

People have gathered on the 'knuckle' of North Barangaroo to see the fireworks. When this area was still an operational port, the wharfies and their families used to sit here and have a picnic outside the now demolished Shed 3.

The parade of tall ships and other Heritage Fleet vessels decked out in fairy lights, sailing the length of Sydney Harbour, is my favourite part of the whole celebration.


Self Portrait with painting of Sydney Heritage Fleet with fairy lights.

One of my traditions is to paint the fireworks on New Year's Eve and other major celebrations from the vantage point of the top of the Sydney Ports Corporation's Harbour Control Tower.

This may be for the last time.

There are no guarantees that this Tower will have any place in the redevelopment of Barangaroo. If it is to be retained, what function will it serve?

The interior spaces of both the amenities floor, where I paint, and the top floor, where the port operations are carried out, are very snug, to say the least. There isn't much room. The Tower is a magnificent observation post with breath-taking 360 degree panoramic Sydney Harbour views, but the number of people that could visit at any one time would be severely limited. I am worried that the Tower would be seen as being not economically viable to maintain in the new Barangaroo.

It could be demolished at any time after April 2011, which is when all the port operations will be finally transferred to Port Botany. Even if it is not immediately demolished, it will be inaccessible for a couple of years while major earthworks will be disrupting the Northern end of the Barangaroo Headland. The sandstone escarpment will be buried in earth to provide a slope down from Merriman St to the new shore of the Barangaroo Headland Park. I wonder how the inhabitants of the quaint little terraces in Merriman St will cope? They are a stoic, laid back bunch, but these changes will be traumatic.

To All:

Happy New Year!

Painting Miller's Point from the top of Harbour Control Tower New Year's Eve 2010- Part 3 : Panorama

2011-01-08T22:15:00.002+11:00

Painting Miller's Point from top of Harbour Tower.

A small study of the rooftops of the heritage Miller's Point terraces. This painting is still unfinished but is well underway, and has already helped me to sort out some potential problems with the large panorama.

'Miller's Point from the top of the Harbour Tower' 2010-11 oil painting on canvas 61 x 183cm

Painting Miller's Point from top of Harbour Tower. This is my painting for the late afternoon, with the shadows lengthening along the roads and carving strange shapes into the tin rooftops. I want the gold of the last rays of the setting sun to glint on the rooftops and warm the cold brick and tin. For this painting marks the end of an era for Miller's Point ; possibly for Sydney itself. Love it or hate it, things will never be the same.

I can see already that this painting is going to be a lot of hard work.

The previous small studies were to give me the courage to start this.

I have chosen a panorama format canvas for this composition, 3 times as long as it is high. The vista spans the Sydney Harbour Bridge, parts of the North Shore, Miller's Point, Walsh Bay Wharves, the Rocks, Observatory Hill,some of Sydney's CBD and Barangaroo.

It will be the quintessential Sydney Harbour painting; from the old Sydney to the new; from skyscrapers to dinky terraces; from pub to park to carpark;from road to wharf to sea. From the sublime to the gorblimey: Sydney from top to bottom of the harbour.

Detail of 'Miller's Point from the top of the Harbour Tower' 2010-11 oil painting on canvas 61 x 183cm


Detail of 'Miller's Point from the top of the Harbour Tower' 2010-11 oil painting on canvas 61 x 183cm

A ramshackle row of terraces contrasts with the lumpen apartment blocks behind them.

Painting Miller's Point from the top of Harbour Control Tower New Year's Eve 2010- Part 2: Moore's Wharf from the eye in the sky

2011-01-08T21:43:00.002+11:00

Painting on New Year's Eve 2010 from Amenities Level at the top of the Sydney Port's Harbour Control Tower.

Painting Moore's Wharf and the Sydney Port's Corporation Emergency Response Tugs while waiting for the 9pm fireworks

My easel is set up in the lunchroom of the amenities floor. I am short, and the window is small and tantalizingly high. I spent the next 8 hours literally standing on tip-toe, painting the view. When I was younger, I spent several years at ballet class, not realizing that training my calf muscles not to protest would ever come in handy later on as an artist.

A bird's eye view of tugs and workboats

Moore's wharf has a fascinating roof structure - very tricky perspective from above. From ground level, the building's curve is not immediately apparent.

As expected, the parade of tugs arriving and departing drove me bonkers. When one would finally return from an outing, they would dock it in the opposite direction to how it had been when it had set out. Just to annoy.

Art and life

I tried hard to take a photo of both the canvas on my easel with the view. The combination of the high set of the window, the narrow working space (the door is directly behind me) and the dark interior compared with the glaring light outside made this my puny Olympus camera's best effort.

It's interesting how even in this age of digital photography, something as slow and old-fashioned as painting can still be more effective. The human eye has no trouble combining a dark interior scene with an extremely light exterior into a cohesive image - but the camera does. People endlessly nag "Why paint on site? Why not just take photos?" Well, this is one example of the limitations of photography. Add to the dark/light problem, the glare of glass, and the smeared and grimy windows, and any photos taken through these windows are barely adequate as memories.

It helps when painting this series of works from this vantage point that I have already painted everything in this area before. Singly, in pairs and in groups of three! The buildings, the boats, the wharf, the water - from almost every possible viewpoint and in every season and weather.

Painting Miller's Point from the top of Harbour Control Tower New Year's Eve 2010- Part 1: Nice Rooftops

2011-01-08T21:40:00.003+11:00

I arrived at the Harbour Control Tower very early for New Year's Eve - about 10am and left after 4am. It was a very long day and a night and a day up there.

A small study of the rooftops of the heritage Miller's Point terraces. Unfinished oil painting on canvas 25 x 20 cm

Painting Miller's Point from top of Harbour Tower.

Starting a new canvas. I'm going to paint a very large panorama of this area while I still can. The perspective is going to be very tricky so I'll try a few smaller works first.

I can't help thinking of a hapless overseas star being asked the inevitable question by some hack before they had even got off the plane - "So....What do you think of Australia?" The snappy answer to the stupid question was "You have nice rooftops" I can't recall who it was (John Lennon? Stephen Fry ? Worthy of either)

Comparing art with life. I'm standing on a chair to compare my painting with the view outside.

I had to stand on a chair to paint this work as the windows are a bit too high for me to see the terraces. I'm 5'1", which is short, even for a woman. Exactly the same height as Toulouse-Lautrec reached.

Unfinished study of the Miller's Point terraces and Walsh Bay Wharves from the top of the Harbour Control Tower 2010 oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

In the afternoon I start another small canvas. A small study of the rooftops of the heritage Miller's Point terraces and the former Bond stores of the Walsh Bay Wharves. The roads curve towards the Opera House in the middle distance.

White Ship with Black Hawks-The 'Pacific Jewel' at Barangaroo

2011-01-07T11:22:00.004+11:00

'Pacific Jewel at Wharf 5, Barangaroo, with Black Hawk helicopters'
2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 103cm

Buzzing Around

A training exercise (hopefully). This happened several times during September - November 2010. Must have scared the passengers out of their wits! The huge Black Hawk helicopters reminded me of giant blowflies buzzing around a flaked out sunbather.

Strangely enough, not long afterwards they had a real problem. Something mechanical went wrong with the Pacific Jewel. I don't know whether it was an engine problem or a propeller problem, but the ship had to cool its heels for quite a while, first at Barangaroo, then for over a week at Glebe Island and finally at Captain Cook dry dock over at Garden Island. I have painted an example of each site, and will post them at my other blog Industrial Revelation soon.

This is painted from just inside the LendLease enclosure at the north-western end. I was chased away from the demolition activity down at the southern end and was grateful for all the aviation activity to add a different focus to the painting.

The diagonals of the white tents contrast with the darker, more classically inspired dockyard bond stores and historic hotels of Millers Point and Hickson Road to the right of the canvas.

A light pole neatly bisects the canvas into new wharf to the left and old (or comparatively old) buildings to the right. LendLease had just finished removing all the powerpoles from their section of the wharf, leaving just a few of the yellow bollards sticking out, uselessly. In the centre distance of this painting, you can see some of these relics standing like a few jagged broken teeth in the toothless jaw of an old wharfie.

I must say that I don't care much for the Palisade Hotel's newly renovated roof garden. The shade sails might be practical but they spoil the charm of the stepped roof line, giving it a blocky, squared off look. However this will probably be the least of Millers point's architectural problems given all the changes in store for this previously sleepy and overlooked area.

My Paintings in the Xmas exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery

2010-12-07T22:36:00.006+11:00

My Barangaroo paintings for sale -
Open until Friday 24th December 2010

Stormclouds over the wharf 2007 oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm.

Enquiries about this painting

The last of the cranes of East Darling Harbour. All three were formerly painted red. During the last operational month of Darling Harbour in September 2007, they were painted yellow and placed on the barge, the 'Seatow', escorted by the tug 'Koronui', and floated down to Port Kembla.

'The empty wharf' 2007 oil painting on canvas 61x 91cm

Enquiries about this painting

This painting of the wharf after the stevedores left in October 2007 has an eerie classical calm - a cross between the haunted plazas of de Chirico and Jeffrey Smart's primary coloured geometric constructions. The Harbour Control Tower joins the procession of power poles as though they were a row of Doric columns in an ancient Greek or Roman temple.

Frances Keevil Gallery:

http://www.franceskeevilart.com.au/Jane_Bennett.htm

Email : info@franceskeevilart.com.au

Recently Sold Paintings from the Sydney Open : The Hungry Mile and Barangaroo

2010-11-30T13:17:00.004+11:00

Not all of these paintings were displayed at the '30, The Bond' during the Sydney Open, but were sold to people who saw my exhibitions and later made enquiries to my gallery. I was kept quite busy the next week - paintings were flying around like frisbees!
A large canvas exhibited at 'Workplace6' during the Sydney Open also has just been sold. Not bad for a one - day show with no publicity or invitations!
See my other blog: 'Industrial Revelation'
Recently Sold Paintings : Pyrmont paintings at Workplace6


'L3 Crane and shed 4' oil on canvas 31 x 23cm SOLD

As well as the usual plein air painting problems of avoiding the wind and sun, I had to try not to be mown down by forklifts. After a while I had worked out safe observation points all over the wharf, depending on the type of ship/cargo, time of day and weather conditions. This was painted between Shed 4 and 5, looking north towards the west end of Goat Island. There was no ship in and no cargo inside Shed 4, or I would never have been allowed to paint there. Usually this area was full of cars, boats and containers; and I would have had to paint against the wall of the shed or inside the yellow workcage. One of the workcages is against the left hand side of the shed.


'The 'Coral Chief' from shed3' 2006 oil on canvas 31 x 25cm SOLD

I painted this from beside the west roll-a door of shed 3, , looking directly south towards the P&O offices that were in shed 4, in the centre of this painting. The 2 cranes are (from left to right) “L1” and “L3”. The Chief ships usually only came in on the weekend, and normally docked at shed 3. This particular vantage point was excellent on a hot summer morning with a brisk nor-easter, provided that there was no ship berthed at No. 3 and that there were no steel coils or timber stored inside the shed at the time. The shed would shelter me from the worst of the wind and the sun wouldn’t be in my eyes.

The Tug 'Karoo' from Darling Harbour 2006 oil painting on canvas 28 x 36 cm
SOLD

The ‘Karoo’is one of the smaller tugs on Sydney Harbour, (but only in comparison with tugs like the majestic ‘Woona'). Up close, of course, the ‘Karoo’ isn’t really small! It is one of the ‘Wallace’ stable (a division of ‘Adsteam Marine’ based in Port Kembla) All of the names of the Wallace tugs start with the letter ‘K’, and are derived from Aboriginal names for localities in the Illawarra area. I believe that 'Karoo' refers to a lake around the Illawarra region.

The ‘Karoo’ was only to be seen comparatively rarely and for brief moments from East Darling Harbour, usually while shepherding one of the blue ‘NYK’ line Ro-ros to and from the wharves at Glebe Island, as I have depicted it here in this canvas.

The 'Koranui ' 2007 oil on canvas 25x31cm SOLD

This is the tug which towed the barges with the last of the cranes. down to Port Kembla.

The ‘Karoo’ and the ‘Woona’ were the two tugs used in the last major port operation of Patrick (OK- technically speaking it had by now become ‘Asciano’ of Toll Holdings) ,which was towing the ‘Seatow’ barge with the last of the wharf cranes on it, escorted by the tug ‘Koranui’ to Port Kembla, when East Darling Harbour Wharves closed.


'The 'Woona' 2007 oil painting on canvas 20 x 25cm

SOLD


The 'Woona' with the Talabot 2009 oil on canvas 20x25cm			SOLD

My tug paintings were immensely popular with galleries and collectors, and I'm often asked for a ‘set’ of the ‘Wilga’, ‘Wonga’, ‘Woona’, or for 3 or 4 different angles of the same tug.

'The tug 'Wonga' with 'Victorian Reliance'' 20x25cm SOLD

The most familiar tug, during my period as ‘Artist in Residence’ on the wharves of East Darling Harbour, was the ‘Woona’, which seemed to be used for almost every one of the gigantic bright red Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ro-ros. The other tugs were harder to spot and harder to paint as I saw them less often and for shorter periods of time. The next most commonly spotted tugs were the ‘Wilga’ and ‘Wonga’, followed by the ‘Wolli’ and the ‘Watagan’.

Enquiries about these and other paintings:

Frances Keevil Gallery

My exhibition: "From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo"

2010-11-27T18:11:00.009+11:00

My exhibition: "From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo"
Foyer of LendLease 30,'The Bond',
30 Hickson Road, Millers Point

Paintings of Barangaroo at Sydney Open - 30, The Bond

From left to right:

easel on left:

top : 'Relics from the Dead House 2' 2007 oil on canvas 91 x 61 cm

bottom left: "Hungry Dinosaurs" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 46 cm

easel on left:
above: "The 'Southern Cross' (with Robbie and forklift)" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 103 cm

centre : 'The working port' 2007 oil on canvas 100 x 122 cm

easel in centre:
top left: "The tug "Karoo"" 2008 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
top right: :"The tug "Woona" 2008 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
below: "The 'Tamerlane' after rain" 2005 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

easel on right:
top :"2 cranes" 2006 oil on canvas 41 x 51cm
below: "Boat Lift" 2007 oil on canvas 100 x 122cm

A small selection of my paintings of the East Darling Harbour Wharves and their transformation into the Barangaroo precinct were exhibited for one day only in the foyer of the LendLease Headquarters 30, The Bond directly opposite the Barangaroo site itself. Here they are displayed in front of the spectacular escarpment wall of yellowblock sandstone, catching the dying embers of the afternoon sun.
On the same day a selection of my Pyrmont paintings were also exhibited in the foyer of 'Workplace6', headquarters of Google, and 2 of Paul Signorelli's new restaurants, 'Biaggio' and 'Gastronomia'.
I borrowed the "A" frame easels from John Sweaney of ASMA (The Australian Society of Marine Artists) and put my entire black ankle sock collection on their feet to prevent the floor being scratched!

easel on left:

top : 'Relics from the Dead House 2' 2007 oil on canvas 91 x 61 cm

bottom left: "Hungry Dinosaurs" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 46 cm

bottom right: "Grabber, Muncher,Ripper" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm

easel in centre:
top: "I saw the number '8' in red" 2010 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
centre: :"Red Square (Arrivals Hall) 2010 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
bottom left: "The drill rig" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 36cm
bottom right: "Red Square" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 36cm

easel on right:
top left:"8 (ate)" 2010 oil on canvas 41 x 31cm
top right: "Dig it! (The archaeologists)" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 15cm
centre: "A work in progress" 2010 oil on canvas 91 x 122cm (Unfinished)
bottom left: "The last gantry" 2010 oil on canvas 41 x 31cm
bottom right: "Pump it! (The 'Watertank')" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 41cm

People could take a short break from all the strenuous exploration of the city's architectural highlights and even have a coffee and a bite to eat in the welcoming leather sofas of the Bond's foyer. Some of them were even interested in the paintings!

Before and After

easel on left:
top left:"8 (ate)" 2010 oil on canvas 41 x 31cm
top right: "Dig it! (The archaeologists)" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 15cm
centre: "A work in progress" 2010 oil on canvas 91 x 122cm (Unfinished)
bottom left: "The last gantry" 2010 oil on canvas 41 x 31cm
bottom right: "Pump it! (The 'Watertank')" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 41cm

easel on right:
top:"The empty wharf" 2007 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm

centre: "The empty wharf" 2007 oil on canvas 100 x 122cm (Unfinished)
bottom: "Power Base" 2010 oil on canvas 36 x 46cm

I've contrasted paintings of the still intact wharf buildings, painted just after the stevedores left with images of their demolition

easel on left:

above: "The 'Southern Cross' (with Robbie and forklift)" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 103 cm

centre : 'The working port' 2007 oil on canvas 100 x 122 cm

easel on right:
top left: "The tug "Karoo"" 2008 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
top right: :"The tug "Woona" 2008 oil on canvas 20 x 25cm
below: "The 'Tamerlane' after rain" 2005 oil on canvas 75 x 100cm

I enjoyed seeing how the glowing brilliance of the red Wallenius Wilhelmsen ships stood out against the shadows cast on the sandstone.

above: "The 'Southern Cross' (with Robbie and forklift)" 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 103 cm

centre : 'The working port' 2007 oil on canvas 100 x 122 cm

Brilliantly renovated and cut in half

2010-11-09T11:38:00.004+11:00

'Red Square' and 'The Drill Rig' - An update

This painting and the next were originally parts of the same canvas. A sudden gust of wind and the canvas was picked up and impaled on the edge of the easel. One of the many hazards of life as a plein air painter!
I had the damaged canvas standing face to the wall at home for several weeks, too depressed to look at it more closely.
Instead of a repair I finally decided to complete the surgery and separate it into 2 square canvases.
I had to decide what to lose and what to keep. The original canvas contrasted the meditative reflections of the interior with the activity of the exterior. Now they have been accidentally and forcibly separated. I was very upset at first, but, on the principle of 'whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger', I'm starting to appreciate their qualities as separate canvases.

'Red Square'

'Red Square' oil on canvas 36 x 36cm

Now 'Red Square' is truly just that : a red square on a square canvas. Unless you know what you are looking at and where it comes from, it could be an excercise in abstraction.

Degas and the Drill Rig

'The Drill rig teams.' oil on canvas 36 x 36cm

I enjoy the idea of a 'picture within a picture', especially with the framing device such as the window or the curtain caught in the act of being moved to reveal the background image which is the real focus of the painting. That painterly trick is called "repoussir" ( 'to push back' in the original French) and I picked it up from studying the works of the master of perspective and design, the French Impressionist, Edgar Degas. While most people are looking at his ballet dancers, I try to prise apart the jigsaw of his compositions. His pastels of dancers would have been charming, yet forgettable, if they had merely presented a full length image of the subject. By cropping his subject unexpectedly and half hiding/half revealing his dancers behind staircases, furniture or doorframes, Degas added the element of surprise. There is a feeling of chance with the encounter; even an element of the voyeur.

This shows the bi-fold door half opened to reveal the drill rig teams, about to start drilling. It is unclear whether the door is opening or closing. The scene is deceptively still; the trucks have arrived; the men have set up their equipment and are poised to start work. This is the calm before the storm.

For the earlier incarnation of these 2 canvases as a single larger canvas see my post in this blog: "Red Square"

Something old-Something New- Some paintings at Barangaroo

2010-10-26T11:50:00.007+11:00

An Architectural Adventure
The 'Sydney Open' -presented by the Historic Houses Trust

My paintings will be on exhibition at several venues during the Sydney Open, a biennial event presented by Historic Houses Trust that showcases Sydney’s architectural icons.
On display for one day only on Sunday 7th November 2010

The Name is 'Bond' - 'Jane at the Bond'

I will be exhibiting my paintings of both the 'Hungry Mile' and my recent paintings of demolition works at Barangaroo in spacious foyer of the LendLease headquarters at the '30 The Bond' 30 Hickson Road.

I was "Artist in Residence" at the "Hungry Mile", East Darling Harbour Wharves during its last years as a working port, and have continued painting on this site during its exciting transformation into the new precinct of Barangaroo.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to display some of these paintings 'in situ'.They are especially relevant now, with the entire area on the cusp of one of the most important architectural transformations in the entire history of Sydney.

I have been the only person to actually witness the transition process on the spot. The people on the wharf have moved to the periphery of Sydney : Port Botany and Port Kembla; and the current construction workers have not experienced Barangaroo as a working port. This area had been a wharf virtually since settlement and the general public was never permitted access. I was given unprecedented access to all aspects of the port operations and painted on the wharves, from the top of Harbour Control Tower and even from the bridge of the ships. Later I painted the demolition of the wharves and the preparations for World Youth Day 2008 and now I am starting a new series of paintings about the construction of Barangaroo.

Barangaroo from the Harbour Control Tower- 'The Hungry Mile' from the Harbour Control Tower 1 2007 gouache painting on paper 44 x 34cm

In this gouache painting you can see a rare aerial view of the '30 The Bond' building, as I painted this from the vantage point of the Control Room of the Sydney Harbour Control Tower. It is the sleekly elegant silver building south of the roller-coaster escarpment of High Street, in the historic Miller's Point precinct. On its roof is a curly thatch of greenery which is its roof garden. My paintings will be displayed on easels in the foyer, just in front of an escarpment wall of original sandstone.
I will also be exhibiting my early paintings of Pyrmont at Workplace6 on Darling Island as part of the Sydney Open, on the same day Sunday 7th November. For more information see my post My Exhibition at Sydney Open at my other blog 'Industrial Revelation'

The End of the Wharf as we know it

2010-10-19T23:25:00.002+11:00

The Empty Wharf

Starting a new large canvas- 8am on a cloudy windy day on the site of recently demolished Wharf 8 at South Barangaroo

I have prepared a canvas suitable for the threatening clouds by priming it with several coats of black acrylic paint. Canvases intended for either landscapes or seascapes I prime with either black or cerulean blue. This preparatory coat of coloured paint is known as the 'imprimatura', and I like to use it especially when painting outdoors rather than face the glare of a white canvas reflecting the sunlight back into my face.
A black primed canvas is useful for storm clouds or interiors, while the blue canvases have the basic sky colour already laid in, so it is easier to add clouds, haze or mist at the horizon.

8.30am

9.30am

Note the scar of dark, new laid asphalt delineating the space where Wharf 8 used to be.

Gone with the Wind


10am

This canvas is fairly large for a plein air painting- 91 x 122cm. I intended it to be a continuation of the series of canvases from similar vantage points on this wharf of the same size which you can see on the right hand side of this blog, one painted when the 'Hungry Mile' was still a working port and the other a year later when the ships, trucks, containers, forklifts and wharfies had left. There are also other paintings of this size and format showing the demolition of the previous wharf buildings. I must say that the earlier paintings might have been more complex to paint, but this one is more physically difficult to manage, because now that most of the buildings have been demolished, there is no shelter from the wind on this wharf.
That sounds like a minor gripe, but I have almost as much canvas up to catch the breeze as though I were windsurfing. The Philip's head screws on the struts of my french box easel, never a strong point of its design, are fighting a losing battle. I tighten them, but their little notches are almost worn smooth. The top of the easel with its canvas snaps back and forward unless I hold it steady with my left hand. It's tiring to paint like this and I dare not leave it long enough to eat my lunch, never mind about leaving it for a much needed toilet break. I'd be chasing my stuff all over the wharf. I try a useful trick with big canvases in a brisk wind - I change the angle so the canvas is side on to the wind, not catching it head on, and lower the angle so that the canvas is almost horizontal like a table top. A little like sailing, I should imagine, although I am by no means a sailor.
Last year I lost a much loved Akubra hat which blew off my head as I was packing up my things on my very last visit to paint the ferries the Balmain shipyard. I was so upset that I seriously thought about jumping into the Harbour and swimming after it, but I didn't want to be scuttled by the 'Lady Hopetoun'. I suppose some lucky New Zealander is wearing my lost Akubra now. A good Akubra with a wide brim, not one of those silly pork pie jobs that don't keep the sun or rain off, is hard to find now. It will set you back about $150, and that doesn't include the toggles, which are almost impossible to buy. The shops only sell Akubras for tourists these days and were amazed to hear of someone who actually needed to wear one for work. 'Did I also ride a horse at work' the assistants asked, wide-eyed with wonder. I had to disappoint them there.

The wind is getting much worse. A good rule of thumb is that over 25 knots and the canvas starts to beat like a drum; the brushstrokes are timed to coincide. Annoying, but not insurmountable. Over 35 knots and a fully loaded french box easel starts to skitter around. Over 40 knots, and it will lift up and whack you on the nose if you don't tie it down. I have to move my car and cower behind it, using it as a wind break.

Painting clouds- 11am

Beware- Artist at work- 11.30am

If it weren't for the hard hat perched on top of it, the little black hat would look quite glam. It's no Akubra, though.
The smear of black paint on the cheek really completes the look.

Behind the canvas

I had to scavenge for this big concrete block to weight down my easel so I wouldn't have to chase it all over the wharf. The bricks are preventing the easel struts from being blown out of position and giving me a faceful of wet canvas. It only partly worked. I found out later the wind that day was over 45 knots. But despite the threatening clouds it didn't actually rain and I got a lot of painting done.

Work Easy

2010-10-17T21:51:00.003+11:00

Hand in Glove

'Work Easy'

I found this glove lying on the wharf. I noticed its reassuring gesture, but decided it was a subject worthy of being painted when I read its slogan "Work Easy". The combination of the battered trampled glove with the 'OK' gesture and the laid back 'Work Easy' slogan was too hard for me to resist.
Do the people who take the maxim "Work Easy" literally, make up for it by also "Playing Hard", I wonder? Or are they laid back in all aspects of their life?

One of my favourite quotes used to be "train hard, fight easy", which sounds as if it were a failed attempt at a Nike slogan or some of Muhammed Ali's pre-bout pugilistic poetry , but I believe actually derives from von Clausewitz and probably sounds more formal in the original 19th century Prussian German dialect. This grim little aphorism is a reminder of the importance of early preparation for an important event, but "Work Easy" is its polar opposite. "Work Easy" sounds so humane, so relaxed, so cheerful and so reminiscent of how Australia used to be. An antidote to the barked commands of "Just do it" I can imagine the hapless owner of the lost glove failing to find it, saying "No worries" and sloping off to the pub early.

'Work Easy'2010 oil on canvas 20 x 20 cm

Walking with Industrial Dinosaurs at Barangaroo

2010-10-11T13:55:00.002+11:00

The "Pulverizer" in action.


'The Pulverizer and the Watertank' 2010 oil on canvas 15 x 30cm

This painting shows the aptly named "Pulverizer" doing just that. Its target is the base of one of the recently demolished power and light poles; another of these is in the foreground.

The Hungry Excavators

The excavators lumber around the site like a pack of marauding dinosaurs. The largest excavator of the site, the Sumitomo 800, resembles the top predator T. rex, as usually it wears a heavy jawed attachment that seems too top heavy for its body. The excavators seem to lie in wait, either hibernating for the winter or digesting their meal. Then they stir from their slumber, shake themselves and stretch and circle around, looking for a weak spot to target. They seem to wander around aimlessly, but you know they are just biding their time, choosing a suitable victim. When they strike it is sudden and merciless. There is a struggle as the heavy jaws clamp and pull. They tear and twist scraps from the target. Sometimes they take a breather to chew their cud. Other lesser beasts hang around the edges scavenging the leftovers, as they wait for the noble beast to finish its kill.

I think I've been watching too many Attenborough documentaries.

The Archaeologists at Barangaroo

2010-10-11T12:02:00.001+11:00

A new trench


'Digger (The Trench)' 2010 oil on canvas 30 x 15 cm

The site archaeologists of South Barangaroo are Casey & Lowe. Here they have briefly stopped work to consult as the excavators have unearthed a pipe. Possibly Barangaroo isn't one of the most fascinating archaeological sites as it is mostly fill, and fill dating probably no earlier than the 1960's. But breaking the surface to dig a new hole is always exciting, even if there is no prospect of buried treasure or even broken bottles or blue and white pottery fragments at the end of it!

Dig it!


'Dig it' 2010 oil on canvas 20 x 20 cm

The archaeologists have discovered some timber, possibly from a 19th century Fingerwharf, and some paving stones. Some paving stones can be seen in the right foreground; fragments of timber are in the centre foreground, in the midground in front of the shovels, and to the far left.

Dig it, Pump it, Grab it, Munch it !

2010-10-10T15:22:00.035+11:00

Dig it !

'Excavator with Macquarie Bank' 2010 2010 oil on canvas 31 x 41 cm

The excavator is the Sumitomo 800, the biggest on site. This heavy duty warhorse was bought specially for the first round of demolition, back in early 2008, when the wharves at the northern end were demolished prior to the World Youth Day celebrations.

This excavator has been sitting idle for a week or so, waiting for the next round of demolition, which will be the Sydney Ports Maintenance Depot and the Amenities blocks lining Hickson Road. It is wearing the attachment called the 'Ripper". Next to it is a reverse view of one of the "Munchers".

Pump it! (The Watertank)

'Pump it '( the Watertank) 2010 oil on canvas 15 x 30cm

The Veronese green of the Cardinal watertank is a welcome sight on a windy day. It hoses down the demolition dust. Here it is draining the little lake in the middle of the site so that it can later twirl around the compound in ever decreasing circles spraying the water onto the site of the recently demolished wharf. However much water it sprays is never enough. When the wind is from the south/ south -west I make sure that I wear a dust mask & keep as far to the west as I can so that I don't end up with a mouthful of dirt.

Grab it!

'Grabber' 2010 oil on canvas 20 x 20 cm

Munch it!

'Muncher' 2010 oil on canvas 20 x 20 cm

This attachment, called poetically a "Muncher" used to have a fluoro pink painted patch that looked like a mad pink eye that made it look both startled and hungry.

Art exhibition : Recent Paintings by Jane Bennett

2010-09-23T20:27:00.007+10:00

From Barangaroo to Double Bay :

My paintings for sale -

on Display at the Frances Keevil Gallery until 8th October 2010

"I saw the number '8' in red... "2010
oil painting on canvas 51 x 76cm
$4,200

See my post : I saw the number '8' in red...

"Out of time " oil painting on canvas 31 x 31 cm
$990

See my post : Barangaroo terminal -'Out of time'

"Keep Area clear"

(Inside the loading dock of the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8)

2010 oil painting on canvas 51 x 76cm

$4,200

Painted from a similar viewpoint as "May close without warning..."

"MAY CLOSE WITHOUT WARNING (Inside the loading dock of the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8)"
oil painting on canvas 51 x 76cm
$4,200

See my post : May close without warning

"Night, 'Pacific Jewel' from the bridge of the Maersk Gateshead" 2010
oil painting on canvas 61 x 91 cm
$6,000

See my post : 'Maersk Gateshead' last container ship


*"The Pacific Jewel arrives for the first time* *at the new temporary facilities at Barangaroo" 2010* *oil painting on canvas* *36 x 46 cm* $1,800

"The Pacific Jewel arrives for the first time
at the new temporary facilities at Barangaroo"

Diptych Left hand canvas 2010
oil painting on canvas 25 x 51 cm each
Total image size 25 x 102cm

Each canvas : $1,400 Diptych : $2,800

"The Pacific Jewel arrives for the first time
at the new temporary facilities at Barangaroo"

Diptych: Right hand canvas 2010 oil painting on canvas 25 x 51 cm each
Total image size 25 x 102cm

Each canvas : $1,400 Diptych : $2,800

The Art of Painting in PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

2010-09-18T21:23:00.005+10:00

Gone in 60 seconds
Yesterday they started to pulverize the power poles. I can't sit where I have been for the last week and finish my diptych, which was going to be a panorama of the whole site. When they have finished I can return to the spot, however the blocks which were to have been the whole key of the composition will be gone.

On the other hand, Andrew, the site foreman, has assured me that the big red statue of the number "8", to which I have taken quite a fancy, won't be demolished for at least a week.
Hear no evil (or anything else)

I had to use hearing protection to cope with the noise. The hearing protection on this site is a rather snazzy set of fluoro orange earbuds attached to a headset rather than the usual rolled up bits of pink and orange foam. However the headset is way too big for the back of my head and I got it in a dreadful tangle with my hard hat balanced precariously on top of my cap with its sun-veil at the back, my scarf and safety glasses and my Bovis LendLease lanyard with my site passport. As usual the photo on my ID gives me the expression of an escaped lunatic who has just been shot in the back with a poisoned arrow. So does everyone else's; I'm glad mine doesn't stand out. Would the headset be less uncomfortable up over my hard hat or flapping down around my shoulders? Neither of these positions worked so I finally clamped it over my sunveil; not the most hygienic solution but at least it stopped drilling painfully into my ears. Today I gave up on these ear-drillers and brought my enormous old ear muffs out of retirement. They certainly dull the noise but wearing them is like having a pair of buckets stuck either side of my head. When someone speaks to me I have to clamp them to the top of my hard hat, in a way that reminds me slightly of Mickey Mouse ears. With all this heavy duty ear protection, I don't know why my ears still stick out at right angles like Tony Abbot's, they should be squashed so flat by now that I'm wearing them internally.

My cap does prevent most of my face and ears from getting sunburnt, and has a useful little gap at the back for my ponytail but unfortunately it has the words "Frontline" written in bold yellow capitals at the front. This is not as you might think in honour of the famous dog and cat flea killing powder- this word is also the motto of Australian Customs and Quarantine; this cap was a souvenir of painting a commission for someone who worked for them when Barangaroo was still a working port.

I am still clumsy when attaching or removing my flashing orange beacon to or from the car. I keep forgetting it's there and open the car door suddenly, or drive off site with it still flashing merrily away.
In the afternoon it gets very dusty as the wind direction changes from westerly to a nor-easter. They hose down the dust as much as possible, but I am now wearing a face mask as an extra precaution. It's not specifically required, but I think that it would be sensible. However I feel so trussed up that I can barely move and resemble a badly decorated Xmas tree.

Fast work

I have completed 2 small canvases yesterday and another 2 today. Not bad going! Yesterday, the first was of the pulverizing of the power poles. I was told not to bother as there would only be 2 hours or so before I would have to move, as the excavator would soon start on the second block. I had just enough time to paint a 15 x 30 cm canvas. The second was a small square painting of a "Grabber", one of the attachments for the excavators. Today I painted a "Muncher" to match the "Grabber" on the same format canvas, and the green waterpump draining the giant pool of water caused by the hosing down of the dust.

Eight (ate)

2010-09-15T20:48:00.010+10:00

Barangaroo : Demolition of Wharf 8

"Eight (ate)" 2010 unfinsihed oil painting on canvas 31 x 25 cm

The Wharf building is now demolished. All that remains is a pile of twisted metal, and the giant red numeral.
The forked sign painted at the foot of the 8 is actually really there, but to me it symbolizes the whole dilemma of Barangaroo, of Sydney and possibly of Australia itself. Caught between two possible directions (remember the election anybody?) equally poised between looking back and moving forward. Progress and change are needed, but in which direction?
Update on eight (ate)

'Eight (ate)' 2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 25 cm

The finished painting.

Geophysics

2010-09-13T22:38:00.006+10:00

The Drill Rig at South Barangaroo

"The Drill rig" 2010 oil painting on canvas 30 x 40cm

A core sample is being taken on South Barangaroo, to make sure that there are no nasty little surprises when construction starts.

Incidentally, all of Barangaroo is landfill.
When I painted on the K.E.N.S. Site (the "Kent, Erskine, Napoleon and Sussex street block " which is now the new Westpac headquarters) next to Moreton's pub (known as the 'Big House' by the wharfies) I saw steps that were unearthed that once belonged to an early 19th century Fingerwharf, and must have roughly coincided with the original shoreline. They were halfway between Kent and Sussex Street - so anything west of Sussex Street is fill.

Don't forget your toothpaste! (A little amateur archaeology)

A couple of the men from Coffey and Macquarie Drilling have worked at the same sites that I have painted at! These include the former A.G.L. Site at Mortlake, developed by Rosecorp (which is now known as 'Breakfast Point') and the Carleton United Brewery site at Chippendale, which is still underway. One wet and miserable day at the Carleton United Brewery site, I was offered some of the old bottles and jars to paint by the archaeologists, instead of struggling through the mud laden with an easel to paint the chimney in the pouring rain. A few weeks later, the archaeologists generously made their spare finds available for the construction workers to souvenir. I suppose that an old brewery site wouldn't suffer from a lack of bottles! I took a small selection of 19th century ceramic and glass bottles, including perfume jars, ink bottles and a big brown 'Geneva' bottle (mother's ruin or gin), but one of the men on the drill rig team had a real prize - a small ceramic jar with lacy craquelure that once contained an early 19th century version of toothpaste! When we realized that we both were proud owners of these relics, I brought my paintings of the CUB finds and the bottles to Barangaroo and he brought in his toothpaste jar for me to paint.

My Carleton United Brewery still life can be seen on my 'Urban Landscape' page on my other blog, 'Industrial Revelation'.

This is their 2nd last hole before the drill rig team pack up and leave Barangaroo.

Barangaroo : Terminal- Demolition

2010-09-07T22:18:00.003+10:00

The demolition of Wharf 8

'Collapse' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46 cm

There isn't much left of the main building now, and this morning the last gantry was demolished about 10am.
Ironically it was taken down by the very same man who built the other gantry, (the orange one that stood closest to King Street Wharf) only 8 years ago.
I've been torn between wanting to paint the spectacular collapse of the main Arrivals Hall to the south, from the vantage point of the giant statue of the number '8' and the pulling down of the gantries about 300 metres walk from this.
Previously, I could leave my easel in a corner of one of Cardinal's sheds, but today they have started to move all their tables,chairs and equipment out in preparation for the move to the sheds being completed at the north-western end of the compound. So it looks like several long walks back to my car dragging lots of heavy equipment.

The first cut is the deepest

2010-09-05T21:44:00.007+10:00

Barangaroo : Demolition starts of former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour Wharf 8

'The '800' demolishing the Gantries' 2010 oil painting on canvas 36 x 46 cm

The Gantries

'The Gantries' Unfinished oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

Breakfast in the ruins

Gantry

'Gantry (keep)' Almost finished oil painting on canvas 46 x 36 cm

I had wondered if the gantries were to be kept intact & possibly recycled for use at the new cruise ship terminal soon to be built at White Bay.
They are instead about to be demolished by the very same man who built the orange gantry only 8 years ago.
The MUA has just linked an article about my paintings of the Hungry Mile & Barangaroo on their website to my other blog, "Industrial Revelation".

Barangaroo : Terminal - Facade

2010-09-05T21:33:00.002+10:00

A last look at Wharf 8, the former Cruise Ship Terminal

'Wharf 8- facade with red door' 2010 Unfinished oil on canvas 31 x 61 cm.

'The Red Door closes' unfinished oil painting on canvas 25 x 51 cm

Barangaroo : Terminal -The Artist's Studio

2010-09-05T21:25:00.003+10:00

My Studio at Barangaroo : Works in progress

Painting inside the the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8 painted in July-August 2010.

"Red Square"

A race against time

I make the big move out of the terminal

"Grabber,Muncher, Ripper,"

"Grabber, ripper,muncher" 2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 31cm

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 fluoro pink "eye" & 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!

A good day at the office

The very last day that I was able to leave my easels and canvases inside the terminal. I've now moved my stuff into a room in the loading dock of the old Sydney Ports Corporation Maintenance building 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.

Barangaroo : 'Grabber, Ripper, Muncher'

2010-09-05T21:21:00.003+10:00

Barangaroo : 'Grabber, Ripper, Muncher'

'Grabber, Ripper, Muncher' 2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 31 cm

As well as "Grabber", "Muncher" and "Ripper" I have learnt some more evocative & descriptive terms for the attachments to excavators. "What are those bucket-like things on the end of them?" I tentatively asked. "Buckets" was the reply. I must be getting the hang of it now. The buckets with teeth are called "toothed buckets" and the blunt ones are called "mud buckets". Sheer poetry.

Barangaroo : Terminal- 'Out of Time'

2010-09-05T20:28:00.001+10:00

Inside the former cruise ship terminal at Wharf 8, Barangaroo

The completed painting "Out of time " unfinished oil painting on canvas 31 x 31 cm

A poignant little genre painting. Stopped clocks; a security sign; an abandoned storeroom. Industrial memento mori. I found a plaque commemorating the opening of this building - 1999. Not all that long ago, but already it seems like an eon has passed.
Sydney Ports Corporation has just arrived to take possession of this sign. I found it's inscription hilarious - it was about how passengers with cardiac pacemakers were not to go through the X ray machines, but had to be bodily searched by the security guards! if they didn't have heart problems to start with they would when they finished; all the excitement might prove too much!

Barangaroo: I saw the number '8' in red...

2010-09-04T23:03:00.004+10:00

Barangaroo : Terminal -Arrivals Hall

This is an unfinished oil painting on canvas of the interior of the deserted former cruise ship terminal at Darling Harbour Wharf 8, Barangaroo.

My first day of painting this canvas:

'I saw the number '8' in red... ' unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

The title is my homage to the 1928 Charles Demuth painting "I saw the number 5 in gold..", an icon of American Modernism. Like Demuth, I never let go of reality.

The 2nd day of this painting :

'I saw the number '8' in red... ' unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

The 2nd day of this painting- nearly finished, but needs glazing to emphasize the reflections & the dramatic shafts of light from the doorways.

The completed painting: "I saw the number '8' in red... "2010

oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

Starting my 2nd painting of the interior of the Arrivals Hall:
Setting out a rough idea of the composition:

"I saw the number '8' in red" 2010 unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 183cm

Starting work on a large panoramic interior of the Arrivals Hall. This is a Saturday, and apart from the bored security guards on the gate I have the whole place more or less to myself so it is eerily silent.

For a change I have managed to get here early. I've been battling a killer bout of flu for over a month and I've had to push myself to keep working. My throat has been so sore that I can only eat jelly and chicken soup for the last week. I've taken in a thermos of icecubes to numb my throat and they seem to help. Whinge, whinge. This is totally self inflicted- I've been painting outdoors in the middle of winter on a freezing cold wharf in a howling gale & to misquote Alice in Wonderland it is bound to disagree with you sooner or later. However I wouldn't swap what I do for anything; it keeps me endlessly fascinated. I only wish that I wouldn't get ill just at this crucial point in the history of Sydney Harbour - this is the last wharf on the historic Hungry Mile, which has been the fountainhead of Australia's maritime industry since settlement over 200 years ago, and it will be demolished in less than a fortnight! No other artist in Australia seems to have an MSIC or a greencard; so I am the only person permitted to paint any of this.

Half way through my 1st day of painting :

"I saw the number '8' in red" 2010 unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 183cm

At the end of the first day:

"I saw the number '8' in red" 2010 a bit less unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 183cm

I have used 'terminal' as part of the title of paintings in this series as a play on words. The following nuances of meaning I found particularly apt :

1.situated at or forming the end or extremity of something...
2. occuring at or forming the end of a series, succession, or the like; closing; concluding
7.pertaining to or placed at a boundary, as a landmark.
8. occuring at or causing the end of life: a terminal disease.
9.(Informal) utterly beyond hope, rescue or saving...
10. a terminal part of a structure; end or extremity.
13. a station on the line of a public carrier,as in a city centre ... where passengers embark or disembark...

(Courtesy of Dictionary.com)

Take your pick!

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Barangaroo : Red Square

2010-08-26T13:50:00.008+10:00

Barangaroo: Painting inside the former cruise ship terminal

"Red Square" unfinished oil painting on canvas 41 x 91cm

A work in progress, still on the easel.

'Red Square' oil painting on canvas 41 x 91cm

This canvas is still a little unfinished, but you can get the general idea of what I'm attempting to do here. It's an interior versus exterior painting, playing with light, transparency and reflections. Unlike the other doors in the loading dock, which are solid slabs of brilliant scarlet, these are translucent fluted sheets that both reveal and conceal the view.

The "Red square" to the left was the bright scarlet entrance to the passenger walkways allowing access to the cruise ship.
In 20th century art history a famous quote about early abstract art was "The red square is haunting painting", about an oil painting by Kasimir Malevich, one of the originators of the Russian Suprematism movement in abstract painting. The red square has certainly haunted this building! It reminds me how quickly the 'new' and 'modern' passes into history. It is ironic how "Modernism" is now a historic term referring to the art of 50-80 years ago, and the architect of this former wharf has either deliberately or unknowingly raided its vocabulary!

In the background are the two drill rigs of the geophysics team, Coffey and Macquarie Drilling.

For an update on what happened to this canvas, see my post at this blog:'Brilliantly renovated and cut in half'

Barangaroo : May close without warning

2010-08-26T13:45:00.011+10:00

Barangaroo : Paintings of the former cruise ship terminal at Wharf 8

Unfinished oil paintings on canvas, all are 61 x 91 cm
Subject : the interior of the loading dock of the deserted former cruise ship terminal at Darling Harbour Wharf 8.

Poignant reminders of the site's previous function create ironic, even surrealist undertones. This building will be demolished in late August 2010. It had only been opened in July 1999, for the expected influx of cruise ships for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. I remember it being built - in fact I remember its predecessor being built to replace another wharf!

This painting shows the entrance to the loading dock, normally off limits to the public. The door is open to the view north towards the Sydney Harbour Control Tower on the right and the new temporary cruise ship facilities in the marquee to the left.

"Inside the loading dock of the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8" unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

After 2nd day of painting- only needs finishing touches on masonry and shadows.

I'll have to take this home to do the final flourishes as Cardinal has just parked 3 large excavators right in front of me just as I was about to complete this! I musn't get dust on it when I'm putting on layers of glazes or I'll spend the next fortnight plucking the bits of gravel, pigeon feathers etc off the surface with a pair of tweezers!
Painted from a similar viewpoint as "May close without warning..."

The completed painting: "Inside the loading dock of the former Cruise ship Terminal at Darling Harbour 8" oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

"MAY CLOSE WITHOUT WARNING " unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

Day 1 of this painting

The completed painting "MAY CLOSE WITHOUT WARNING "
oil painting on canvas 61 x 91cm

I found the office chair sitting in the middle of the deserted loading dock.

The title "May close without warning" refers to the warnings found on the portal of the fire doors framing the central image.

While I was painting, the electricity and the water was yet to be turned off, and every half hour or so the automatic fire door would grumble a bit and roll forward and back several inches. It was eerie as the building was mostly empty and all the workmen were outside- talk about the 'Ghost in the machine'!
Through the doorway is the Sydney Harbour Control Tower and the marquee used for the temporary cruise ship facilities by Sydney Ports Corporation. The title of this painting could double as my motto! "May close without warning" says it all.
I never need to make jokes - the truth is quite adequately hilarious.

Barangaroo : 'Maersk Gateshead' -The Last Container Ship

2010-08-26T13:24:00.009+10:00

Barangaroo :

Painting the "Maersk Gateshead" June 2010

This was the last container ship ever to enter Sydney Harbour. I was permitted to paint this ship, not only from the wharf, but from the bridge of the ship, courtesy of the Captain, Mark Carter.

Painting the 'Maersk Gateshead' from the wharf at Barangaroo

On my easel is the completed oil painting of the 'Maersk Gateshead' which I sold to the Captain.

Painting the 'Maersk Gateshead' from the wharf at Barangaroo

Painting the 'Maersk Gateshead' from the bridge of the ship at Barangaroo. An unfinished oil painting of the panorama stretching from Pyrmont & White Bay to Balmain 25 x 152cm

Painting the 'Maersk Gateshead' from the bridge of the ship at Barangaroo. A central view of the prow of the ship featuring its rows of containers. The Sydney CBD & the heritage terrace houses of Miller's Point are in the background.
Unfinished Oil painting on canvas 31 x 61cm

I spent 4 days painting from different vantage points on the ship, knowing that I was witness to the end of an era.
The 'Maersk Gateshead' only made her unplanned visit to Sydney Harbour because her engines became disabled. Rather than return to Port Botany or sail further into Sydney Harbour to dock at Glebe Island, as originally planned, the Captain decided to make use of the recently vacated wharf at Barangaroo.
The 'Maersk Gateshead' was not originally intended to enter Sydney Harbour at all. It had been near Botany, when it was discovered that the engines were disabled, & after some discussion, it was decided at first to send it to Glebe Island. I was painting the ex-Hmas Adelaide and the OES Barge which were both then docked at Glebe. On the 7th June the OES Barge was waiting for the weather conditions to permit it to go to Botany, where it was to start the trials for laying cables. There was quite a big swell at Botany, which is a wide windy shallow bay at the best of times. Suddenly the OES people were told to move the barge from Glebe to neighbouring White Bay, to accomodate the disabled ship. But the expected ship did not arrive at Glebe - the captain had decided to instead move his ship the 'Maersk Gateshead' to the vacant lot at the former DH5.

The ship was not unloaded at the wharf, but waited for repairs and finally left at 3pm Monday 14th June. I understood the historical significance and made sure that I took advantage of the situation. As well as painting from the dockside, after a bit of negotiation I was permitted to paint from the bridge of the ship itself.

"Night, 'Pacific Jewel' from the bridge of the Maersk Gateshead" 2010
oil painting on canvas 61 x 91 cm

It is highly unlikely that any other container ship will ever be allowed to dock at Barangaroo again. If the recent article by Paul Keating in the Sydney Morning Herald is any indication, the cruise ships will be evicted to White Bay as soon as possible.
View article about the 'Maersk Gateshead's' stay at Barangaroo

Barangaroo :The 'Pill'

2010-08-26T12:49:00.014+10:00

Barangaroo: the Sydney Harbour Control Tower

Behind the fence- Beware of the artist!

The setting sun bathes the sandstone escarpment and Sydney Harbour Control Tower in a warm golden glow.


Art versus life

My canvas is sitting on top of my trolley luggage, which contains my essential equipment. My paints, my brushes, my palette, my easel, my toilet paper and my lunch. It's a long walk back and the French box easel weighs over 10 kilos with the paint inside. All French box easels have annoying design flaws. With this one the easel legs have an alarming tendency to detach and whack me on the back of shins whenever I least expect it. Although I can always count on them doing so when I'm climbing scaffolding or trying to pack up quickly to get out of the rain. Shoving it inside the trolley luggage was the best compromise I could come up with.

This is the unfinished painting sitting on top of my trolley luggage after a hard day's painting:

"Barangaroo Headland :Sydney Harbour Control Tower, the escarpment and the Sydney Harbour Bridge "2010 unfinished oil painting on canvas 31 x 61 cm

Enquiries about this painting

On the far left is a Federation era heritage sewage pumping station. Slightly behind this is the handsome sandstone Moore's Wharf building and the roof of a Walsh Bay Wharf pier. The charming terraces of Merriman St in Miller's PointSydney Harbour Control Tower. perch on the sandstone escarpment, which is neatly bisected by the mushroom head of the Sydney Harbour Control Tower.

Painting the Harbour Control Tower at Barangaroo

While I was painting this, the radio station Nova was holding some kind of promotional event, on the knuckle of the northern end of Barangaroo. It was a bit distracting and I felt a bit nervous leaving all of my things lying around at the mercy of the crowd whenever I had to have a loo break. But they had set up a pop-up coffee bar in the middle of the wharf, so I'm everlastingly grateful to them as I love my coffee and never usually get a chance to drink any while I'm painting - it tends to go sour in a thermos and milk turns to yoghurt in the sun.
This is a close up of the painting I started that morning:

"Barangaroo Headland :Sydney Harbour Control Tower and the escarpment" 2010
unfinished oil painting on canvas 61 x 61 cm
Enquiries about this painting

The concrete mushroom head of the Sydney Harbour Control Tower looms above me as I sit in its shadow.

The Harbour Control Tower has been a Sydney Harbour icon since it was built in 1972. It is sometimes known as the 'Pill' - because it controls the berths (bad wharfie joke) It boasts a 'loo with a view'- the toilet in the amenities section of the upper storey has a 270 degree view stretching from the Rocks in the east to Balmain in the west.
The Harbour Control Tower will still be used by Sydney Ports Corporation until their room in their spiffy new purple and silver headquarters at Port Botany has been fitted out. As far as I know this will happen in April 2011.
I don't know whether there will be a role for the Harbour Control Tower in the new plans for Barangaroo. It has a fabulous 360 degree view of Sydney Harbour - there is really nowhere else to be in Sydney on New Year's Eve to see the fireworks. When they are set off from the rooftops of the CBD buildings you are almost directly above them. I have spent 4 out of the past 6 New Year's Eve celebrations painting the fireworks and the tall ship's pageant from the eye in the sky.
I still have one of my easels stored on the amenities floor. I'd better go up there and paint soon or they will throw it away.
I hope that it isn't pulled down. I'd miss it.
See more of my paintings at my blog "Industrial Revelation"

Barangaroo : A big white ship at a big white tent

2010-08-26T12:13:00.010+10:00

Barangaroo : Paintings of the 'Pacific Jewel' at the temporary cruise ship terminal


"The Pacific Jewel arrives at Barangaroo" 2010 oil painting on canvas 36 x 46 cm The first cruise ship to use the temporary facilities at Barangaroo was the 'Pacific Jewel', coincidentally the last cruise ship to dock at the old terminal, at Darling Harbour Wharf 8. While I was painting from the bridge of the 'Maersk Gateshead', I watched as the workmen put the finishing touches on the new temporary cruise ship facilities. I was scolded for calling the new facilities a 'tent' - it is actually a 'marquee'. The orange crane is there because the crew are continually painting the ship to keep its pristine whiteness. Some of the container ships and Ro-ros sometimes are allowed to get a bit rusty, but this would never do for a cruise ship! I painted this andseveral other canvases on the wharf itself. I had to go through the X ray with all of my painting gear. I forgot and left my palette knife in my trolley luggage, so I had a bit of explaining to do!

"The 'Pacific Jewel ' at the new temporary facility at Darling Harbour"

Diptych Left hand canvas 2010 oil painting on canvas 25 x 51 cm each Total image size 25 x 102cm

"The 'Pacific Jewel ' at the new temporary facility at Darling Harbour"

Diptych: Right hand canvas 2010 oil painting on canvas 25 x 51 cm each Total image size 25 x 102cm

Painting Barangaroo

Transmogrify

'Fast Eddy' didn't know exactly when he'd be back, or whether he'd be with or without his truck or where he'd park it. So I scraped the truck off with a razor blade, to remove the lumps and bumps and give a good surface for the next application of paint.

This painting has now turned into a monster. I have no idea whether I will ever be able to finish it, but it has been an ever changing record of everything that has happened on the wharf over the last couple of months.

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Bacon and eggs in Miller's Point Part 2

The Rocks and Miller's Point used to be almost literally awash with pubs. Of the thirty seven taverns listed in 1855 only two, the "Lord Nelson" and "The Hero of Waterloo" still operate as pubs.

The hotel has now been restored to its former grandeur with the aid of an 1852 photograph.

Unlike the eerily silent Palisade Hotel opposite, the "Lord Nelson" is going gangbusters, especially on Friday and Saturdays.

The Palisade Hotel closed about a year ago for renovations. There is now an ugly shade structure defacing the roofline, but the pub is still boarded up.

The Palisade was also the last bar Sydney’s diggers drank in before they were shipped off to Gallipoli.

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$10,500

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Enquiries about this and similar paintings

Starting my Painting of the 'Argyle Cafe, late afternoon Millers Point'
2011 oil on canvas 31 x 31cm

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$990
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings

$3,500

Catalogue number 34
Exhibited "May close without warning..." Frances Keevil Gallery

Enquiries about this and similar paintings