Work Easy

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

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

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 !

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

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

Diptych- 2010 oil painting on canvas 

25 x 51 cm each 

Total image size 25 x 102cm

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

See my post :  Barangaroo paintings of 'Pacific Jewel'


 All enquiries about paintings : Frances Keevil Gallery
 Email : info@franceskeevilart.com.au