National Maritime Museum-Sydney

Darling Harbour-watercolour and charcoal

Lighthouse-Maritime Museum

The weather has been cold and wet this month and Saturday was no different. I met friends at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney to capture the sights.  The above sketch was done from a balcony at the museum where luckily there were tables and chairs and we could draw in comfort, although battling the weather conditions.  The dark shape in the mid ground of the above sketch is a submarine which you can go into if you visit the museum.  Cockle Bay eateries and the city are in the background.
There are a number of ships and this lighthouse which you can tour.
It is always fun to meet friends and sketch no matter what the weather does.

Sugar Mill, Cooks River

Sugar Works, Cooks River, Sydney

Close to where I live is the Cooks River and on the river is the oldest privately built industrial building in Australia.  This is the Sugar Works which was built between 1840 and 1842.  It was built from sandstone mined from the site.  The company imported raw sugar cane from the Philippines and then it was processed to make refined sugar and molasses for the colony.  It seems hard to believe that they would import raw sugar cane all the way from the Philippines.  I wonder how much checking of this produce was done by customs and whether there were snakes and insects imported as well.
This is a very handsome building that had many uses over the years.  There was a fire there in more recent history and then it was developed into residential apartments.  It's a great location, on the river and close to a train station.
I sketched this late sunday afternoon.  There were many people walking their dogs and kids on their skate boards going by, heading or coming from the river pathway.

Rainy day in Glebe

Stormy sky, Glebe, watercolour and charcoal

Sketch club met at the Clay Workers Gallery, in Glebe (inner Sydney suburb) this morning.  What a rainy day but we managed to get some sketching done, despite the  weather.  Many of us sketched the tea pot exhibition which was happening inside the gallery. I like to sketch the urban landscape so that is, of course, what I did and what you can see here.  The sky was a dramatic sight and you can get some idea of it from the above sketch looking towards the city.  There was a break in the weather and some sunshine when sketching the gallery below.
We had a wonderful lunch of tapas afterwards.  What a great day!

Clay Workers Gallery-watercolour and charcoal

Bill and Muriel

Bill and Muriel-watercolour on card

.  Our office is in the old residence of the nursing students who trained at the hospital.  The hospital is in a residential area and I really enjoy seeing the neighbours who I have never formally met but I think their names would be Bill and Muriel.  They are long retired and enjoy keeping very busy.  Bill must be in his 80's and spent many months up on the roof earlier this year.  Muriel does washing every day and you can see her taking clothes off the line in above sketch.  Bill was leaning over, no doubt picking weeds out of the grass. They keep every thing tip top.  The little building in the backyard must be a granny flat although no one lives there.  There is a second hand car lot 2 doors up.
I spent a couple of lunch times sketching this.  I forgot the good paper and had to use card from a folder and the paint didn't take very well.  Anyway, this is a glimpse over the fence.

Art Gallery of New South Wales

One of the rooms in the Art Gallery of NSW, pen and watercolour

The Art Gallery of New South Wales was established on 1880 and holds a wonderful collection of art from ancient to contemporary. The building has grown over the years with extensions which contrast with the original facade which I have sketched below. 

 Right now a portrait competition is exhibited called The Archibald prize.  This is an annual competition and to win it  greatly enhances an artist's reputation.  

The weather was iffy today, a forecast of heavy showers, so after a quick sketch outside it was nice to spend the rest of the day in the gallery looking at art and sketching one of the spaces.

Art Gallery of NSW, pencil and watercolour sketch

Elme Glass

I haven't talked about things I have found for a while, no doubt because I have been too busy sketching to find any treasures.  I did go to Rozelle markets on Sunday which can sometimes be a source of  interesting items.  I saw this Peacock glass vase and the vendor was very excited about it.  He had bought it for $50 from a charity shop and he said that he couldn't not buy it even though he thought the price was excessive (for a charity shop). He knew about this particular glass and said it was an excellent example of it's type and that it was quite rare to find except in Sweden.
The glass works that made this vase is called Elme and it started in 1917.  It was owned by the Swedish Nobel Laureate, Gustuf Dahlen, who invented the gas lit lighthouse.  This company started by producing lighthouse lenses and the glass lenses used for light signals.  The company went bankrupt in the 1920's but made a restart focusing on blown and pressed household glassware.
I couldn't resist buying the vase and did take it off the vendor's hands for $60 which is probably a  pretty good price.  It was made in the 1950's or 1960's  and has a sticker on it saying it was made in Sweden.  The  Elme company went out of business in the 1970's.

Peacock Elme vase sitting in collection of other mid century glass pieces

Ultimo

Harris St, Ultimo

 Sketch Club met at Ultimo at the Powerhouse Museum today.  I felt it would be better for me to get some Vitamin D and did a few sketches outdoors near the museum. meeting up with sketch  friends later.
Ultimo is a suburb at the edge of the city centre and it is a mix of residential and industrial.  Bit by bit the industry is going and more apartments are being built.  In the sketch above you can see the cranes, no doubt involved in the building of another development.  On the other side of the road is the Ian Thorpe Aquatic centre and I drew it separately, as seen below.

Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre

Watson's Bay

South Head lighthouse-Watson's Bay

.  Watson's Bay was a fishing village in the early days of Sydney settlement.  Prior to that, the Cardigal people enjoyed fishing and oysters from the rocks of this area.

From the map below you can see that Watson's Bay is on the south head to the harbour.  It was an important area in WW2  for security of the city and country. You can still the the places that canons were placed.

Watson's Bay is a wonderful place to enjoy the harbour views, have seafood and maybe even have a dip at one of the secluded beaches.  If you aren't busy sketching or eating or both you might enjoy Watson Bay's nude beach!!

Watson's Bay see far right on the south head to the harbour

Dunbar House, below, is close to the ferry wharf at Watson's Bay and, I think, is a reception centre.   

Dunbar House, charcoal and watercolour

This house, below, is one I have admired for many years.  Driving by I always noticed the telescope in the round room.  There is a mast in the garden and I can only assume it was a sea captains house.  It is on the side of a hill with a great view of the harbour.

Sea Captain's House, telescope in the round room and mast in the garden

Australian Museum

Australian Museum, Sydney-watercolour and pencil

The Australian Museum has been on the go for 180 years in various Sydney buildings but in 1857, a purpose built home opened.  The architect was Mortimer Lewis and there was just one exhibition gallery on William St opposite Hyde Park.  Since then the museum has been modified many times to accommodate the collections and exhibitions.  It still continues today in it's dual role of research and education.
Sydney Urban Sketchers met at the museum today.  It was a cold but sunny day, nice if sitting in the sun, protected from the wind.  I sat on a busy corner sketching the above drawing.  There was a little car accident in front of me and my friends blamed me but it really wasn't my fault....truly!