Bio-Mechanical Pelicans

Biomechanical Pelicans sculpture created by Christopher Trotter in 1995  They sit on top of an historical wharf pylon in the Brisbane River near the Maritime Museum.

 

South Brisbane Public Library

I love this building, it is so elegant.  It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 1881 to 1902 by W Macfarlane. This complex is composed of three structures built at different times in response to different needs: the South Brisbane Post Office (1881); the South Brisbane Municipal Library (1897); and the City Concert Hall (1902)

It is also known as South Brisbane School of Arts, South Brisbane Mechanics Institute, South Brisbane Technical College, and South Brisbane Post & Telegraph Office. It is now the Griffith University Film School.

 

South Brisbane Municipal Chambers

What a glorious winters morning.  I sketched with friends in a historic part of South Brisbane, the "Town Hall".

South Brisbane Municipal Hall is a magnificent building, with working clock tower and gargoyles.  In 1891, work commenced on the construction of the town hall. The building was officially opened on 1 July 1892   Although it was widely known as the "Town Hall", it was officially the South Brisbane Municipal Chambers. 
The builder was Abraham James,
Building commenced in January 1891. Work proceeded for six months, when the contractor developed financial difficulties. he lost his contract and the following tradesmen finished the work.

• Messrs John Stuart & Co won the tender for the stonework, brickwork, carpentry and joining work
• Mr John Campbell for the plasterwork
• Mr James Kay for the plumbing and gasfitting
• Messrs James Lang & Co for painting and glazing, while Messrs Exton and Gough continued as the providers of leadlights

The building was predominantly constructed from red Coorparoo and Waterstown bricks (without any alteration of natural colour). The brown and white sandstone facings are used in the entrance and exterior walls were supplied from Pearson's Quarry at Helidon. The exterior decoration used terracotta panelling (also in its natural colour) supplied by James Campbell & Sons of Albion. Ribbed galvanised iron was used for the roof.
I tell you this because, the building looks as magnificent today, as when it was first built. the building style is Italianate Classic Revival

 

 

St Mary's Catholic Church

The current church at St Mary’s was blessed and opened on 2nd July 1893. It replaced the first St Mary’s – a small wooden church built on the site of the present car park around 1864. Designed by architects George Simkin and John Ibler and built by Woollam and Norman between from 1892 to 1929
The style of the church, which combines Romanesque and Renaissance revival elements, was not common at the time as most nineteenth century churches were designed in the Gothic revival style.

Stanley Street South Brisbane

We sketched Historical Clarence Corner this morning. I sat outside the Clarence Corner Hotel, now known as the Brew House. It was named after the Steam Ship Clarence.
Clarence Corner was Brisbanes first Township, and it was quite a large one. In 1893 a devastating flood forced most of the retailers across river to Queen Street.

The cream building is Maggee Draper Emporium formerly Murray and Magee Coupon Drapers.
The black building is Robert Lenehan’s pharmacy at Clarence Corner in 1915.
Sketched in my handmade 8" x 6.5" 90lb sketchbook. Graphite 0 Lamy pen - Watercolour.

Sketching around the Brisbane Supreme Court

Fun morning with the Brisbane City Sketchers, on a breezy but sunny winters morning.  We sat in the Supreme Court Park, and I wandered around the back of the court building to sketch Fiona Foleys controversial Silent Whispers.  Her work is a memorial to the many massacres of Aboriginal people which had taken place during the colonial settlement and expansion of Queensland in the early 19th Century. There are names engraved in pavers, 94 names, that are the places of the massacres.

My second drawing is of the historic McDonnell Building