Reflecting over a Bushells

In this artwork, “Reflecting over a Bushells”, I wanted to acknowledge 60 years of tea and coffee brewing by the employees in this factory. This iconic Australian brand was founded by Alfred Bushells in 1883 and his family traded commercially in Sydney from 1899.

I painted the factory at dusk as a way for us to reflect upon the large changes in economic fortune for the manufacturing industry in Australia. And perhaps this is what every good cup should be about – a good cuppa to reflect upon and share your life changes with family and friends.

I was surprised to learn that the chimney stack was not an original feature of the building when it was completed in 1958. Rather the factory was built in two stages, the chimney stack being added in the 1970s. It is hard to imagine this building without this splendid slender black steel chimney.

I have been fascinated by the reflection of this building on the Parramatta river at different times of the day. The steel black chimney is so slender with its graceful wind bands (helical strakes) evident at the top of the stack. The black outline blends beautifully with the reflection of the masts from the sailing boats on Cabarita Bay. Then there is the coffee bean and tea leaf inside the distinctive letter B at the side of the building. And once again I have been fascinated by the different ways the silver metal B can be reflected and distorted in the water underneath.

Best of all I admire how the Bushells factory has blended itself into the residential environment of an encroaching suburbia. Comparing the building photos of the 1960s to those taken by me recently, I can see there has been a softening of the industrial landscape. I love how the reflection of the black chimney stack alongside the sailing boats masts echo back to a time when tea leaves and coffee beans were shipped by wind and sail around the world.

At the time of completing this painting this factory is still brewing coffee and tea for us all to enjoy. And you may have noticed the steam rising from one of the exhaust outlets below the Letter B. However, the building is nearing the end of its manufacturing life and plans are well progressed to retain the building for residential use so it can continue to serve the community.

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I have taken the long road to discover that painting and photography can sit side by side, for me painting is my first meaningful creative outlet. I use my photography to inspire my artwork and I hope my love of composition, subject and light come through in my artwork.

I was born in Papua New Guinea and lived on a remote rubber plantation before moving to Sydney in 1971 at the age of 7. I was finding it hard adjusting to the city and my mother encouraged me to take up oil painting.

Having won an art competition when I was 10, the judges recommended that I study at the local TAFE on a Saturday morning. I completed one term but felt out of place with students who were all over 16 years old, so I did not continue. (I was also a TV junkie, we had no TV in Papua, and staying at TAFE meant missing out on Hey Hey It’s Saturday.)

It took me 40 years to rediscover painting.

The one constant in my work is to find a new project and during my break from painting I have been a project manager in Information Technology. This kept me in a world with projects, and here too I learnt that even the smallest piece of data contributes its meaning towards each information system. The other constant motivating me in life is to finish a project so I can start a new one.

My creative drive comes from knowing that each brush stroke I make contributes its meaning towards the completed work. What inspires me about art is how the smallest brush strokes, when added together, can radiate a meaning for the person who gazes at the painting far beyond the meaning of each brush stroke.

I aim to do my best in each project and try to avoid, at all cost, the haunting feeling I get when I leave a project unresolved. Even to this day I still think of my unfinished painting of a sailing boat peeping out behind photographic developing chemicals back in 1979. I was 15 then and my easel had been replaced by a camera and darkroom. A part of me still needed to finish the oil painting, but photography filled the void, so the unfinished artwork was thrown away in a frenzied darkroom clean out before my HSC exams.