Sand, silica and lime
It is quite obvious why a simple but
wonderful mixture of sand, silica and lime provided Aborigines with shelter, a
medium for their artwork and an inspiration for their mythology, and later
became the most used building material by white men: sandstone is everywhere
around and underneath Sydney.
Formed by sand grains transported by wind
or water and laid in strata which are extended for kilometres, Sydney's
sandstone began to form in the Triassic period about 200 million years ago.
Dramatic changes in climate and vegetation
created the ideal conditions for the formation of Hawkesbury Sandstone on which Sydney is built.
As marine fossils have never been found,
it is possible that once the area was a huge delta where fresh water carried
sand particles.
Far later many species of plants as well
as animals adapted to this new environment and eventually humans appeared.
Aborigines were the first humans using
sandstone: they lived in and decorated naturally formed caves, built tools,
utensils and weapons of sandstone and made particular sandstone formations
their sacred sites.
In the late 18th century the Sydney area
witnessed the first British settlement: all materials used to construct the
initial buildings were poor and there were not many tools or skilled men
available. All properties were crown land and leased on a short-term basis depressing incentive in
building quality.
Under Governor Lachlan Macquarie's
leadership things began to change.
Architects and skilled men (stone masons)
arrived from Great Britain and thanks to Macquarie's grant concessions the
public building programs began to proceed much faster. With the supervision of
Francis H. Greenway, a convicted Architect who designed many beautiful
buildings which can still be seen today, building material was standardised and
the use of sandstone promoted.
Architect and human-rights activist Ms
Fiona Folan says:
- Abundancy of sandstone helped to create
the Architecture of the Colony. Sandstone as a material was functional,
utilitarian and authoritarian: Australia was a penal colony and convicts were
used in the quarrying and cutting of stone blocks as well as in building.
Administrators began to use their
resources of cheap labour and unlimited sandstone to erect permanent public
constructions.
Quarries started their activities
everywhere in and around the Sydney area (Bondi, Paddington, Hunters Hill,
Balmain).
The use of sandstone increased considerably
and become such an important activity that in a few decades (1855-'56) The
Operative Stonemasons' Society in Sydney was the first in the world to win the
right to work the eight-hour day.
Sandstone has been put to a broad range of
different uses: public building, roads and bridges; churches, monuments and
tombstones; houses, forts and barracks, lighthouses, warehouses and cellars;
schools, clocks, hotels as well as steps, walls, gatehouses and entrances. Many
of these works have been decorated by fine sculpting.
This massive activity involved a large
number of skilled and unskilled labourers.
Iniatially they were convicts but when the
system of transporting convicts was
abolished and gold was discovered in the
eastern colonies the supply of cheap labour came to an end and the building
industry began to suffer.
Around 1890 more brick edifices were
starting to appear and gradually the use of sandstone was reduced.
- Sandstone reserves were being depleted
by the huge request of material.
Advances in building technology led to the
development of alternative building materials such as bricks and then concrete
block which imitated the sandstone look while being easily and economically
produced. Concrete block is also lighter and readily conforms to modern
building regulation making it far superior to sandstone for mass production -
Ms Folan said.
Today the use of sandstone is limited to
restoration of old buildings or the cladding and paving of new ones while
thanks to a number of artists the ancient art of carving continues: Geoff
Pollard is one of these artists.
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I met Geoff two years ago attending one of
his carving courses. Carving is a challenging and difficult way to use stone.
But Geoff Pollard's endless patience and his 13 year experience allowed me to
achieve an acceptable result in a few hours of practice and enabled me to carve
a cheerful relief to take home.
But there are those who went further than
I did: while I was slamming my hammers on a punch, beside me someone else was
giving the last gentle touches to a perfectly sculpted head.
Geoff Pollard, a pupil of one of
Australia's major contemporary artists, Noel Gray, actually took over the
classes when Gray moved from Australia to the USA.
His earliest means of expression were
drawing and music. Then, to make a living, he became a piano tuner.
His
first experience with practical sculpture dates back to his return to Sydney
after spending one and a half years in Europe. He got a job restoring pianos
which involved carving timber.
Through this new activity he understood he
had found the way to express himself artistically and soon the idea to work on
sandstone challenged him.
He was looking for good stone such as
Debden (NSW) or Donny Brook (WA) at the Gosford Quarries' store in Annandale
when he met Noel Gray and that's how his career as a sculptor began.
A career which included collective works such
as "The Cities of the Blue Mountains" (Visitor Centre - Glenbrook),
restorations at the Sydney City Library (Hay Market) and lately the biggest
sandstone relief in Sydney,
"Creative Energy", located at The Ritz Apartments (Cremorne).
He also exhibited his works at Parramatta
and Greenwich exhibitions and in several galleries at The Rocks where some of
them can still be seen.
Usually a reserved man, when asked about
sculpting, he can't help but became
excited:
- Sculpting for me is feeling like a child
holding his favorite toy and playing his favorite game. It gives me a sense of
interaction as I am handling such a solid material as stone and it provides me
with the way to explore an infinite number of rooms to my creativity - he said.
Soon our conversation turned to a more
practical aspect of carving:
- Tools used in carving are essentially
four: a hammer, a punch, a scutch and a few different sized chisels, - Geoff
said.
- Conceptually they are the same since man
began to carve stone thousands of years ago. Work on relief is relatively
simple and this is where most people are encouraged to begin.
- Once you have sketched your subject on
the slab of sandstone, you want to exalt it by cutting away with a wide chisel
the contour around the lines you have outlined. Next step is to whittle down
the useless material and the punch does this rough job - he said.
While he was talking, he got his hammer
and punch and started to hit a block of stone and with some appropriate touches
an old Egyptian figure appeared: amazing!
- Then you begin to define your subject
and to give it an evenly carved base using the scutch," he showed me a
notched chisel.
- Finally you use your chisels to refine
your work, " he said pulling out from his rough leather bag a number of
chisels with an octagonal handle - they are more comfortable to use than the hexagonal
handle ones because of their wider shaped corners - Geoff explained.
Shortly under his expertise a section of
the relief was completed.
- The last part of the job is to get your
work smooth: you have to get rid of all sorts of bumps, rough spots and chisel
marks by using a polishing stone like carburundum or sandpaper - he said.
The atmosphere at the classes is creative:
"Teaching the class helps me to pick back up all the energies I have spent
during the day, thanks to the depth and sincerity of the students
involved."
According to present students Paula,
Naomi, Scott, Mark and Andrew, carving classes are an exciting experience which
stimulates creativity, enriches practical skills for its immediate, direct
contact with sandstone and last but not least
is a very good stress relief for the physical work involved.
The Sun was going down on the magnificent
city view you have from the Annandale's workshop location, creating an
intriguing interlude between
skyscraper and sandstone reliefs resting on benches.
Watching students replace tools while
still listening to Geoff’s last words of advice, it becomes apparent how
intriguing it is to challenge oneself in this modern age with such an ancient
art as stone sculpting.
