PRESS RELEASE: Is This the Most Beautiful Piece of Australian Art Furniture? Is it horribly Earnest? No. Is it desperately Correct? Certainly Not. Is it just…Brown? What do you think?

Michael Gill has just launched his life’s long-awaited masterpiece – The Sydney Harbour Cocktail Cabinet.
It is a vibrant symphony of Art Deco colour and design, a huge, functional Work of Art that works for its living.

Michael fell in love with Sydney Harbour as a young boy. “As a kid in Mortlake, standing on our front porch, I could see that gorgeous Harbour Bridge on the horizon. It got into my blood.”

“Michael Gill is not a minimalist kind of guy – ‘More is More’ might be his mantra.” – Linda Nathan, in the Australian Wood Review #119.

She published a major feature exploring Michael’s “life’s masterpiece” – “Intricately constructed and ornate, it is a monument to Art Deco inspiration and his love of Sydney.” Linda dug deep and found this nugget:

“So where did Michael’s mad skills come from? Surely he was trained by the woodworking gods and legends?

‘I failed woodworking at school – I hated woodwork’, said Michael. ‘The teacher had only three fingers on one hand – I think he argued with a bandsaw.’”

It was Art School that shaped Michael’s life – art history, drawing, painting, sculpture, design and, above all, Colour.

Decades later, now a celebrated master craftsman and educator, Michael explains: “Something drove me to create a major work that brought all my skills together. Something Australian. Something iconic. Something exciting. I think the Devil made me do it. I poured my heart, my soul and my guts into The Sydney Harbour Cocktail Cabinet.”

It took him 36 years, in five separate workshops, using refined hand-skills and precious woods of the Art Deco period.

(caption): In the photo, a hard-carved MG roadster zooms out of an archway in the north-east pylon.

Apart from the exquisitely fine wood craftsmanship of the gorgeous Bridge itself, the Cabinet features 13 views of Sydney Harbour’s foreshore attractions, made by hand in coloured glass, and beneath the surface, Sydney’s underwater life done in mosaic. It’s not just a swanky cocktail bar, it’s a living thing.

(caption): The photo shows the entrance to Luna Park, hand-made in superb coloured glass – antique, vintage and new.

The most entertaining way of exploring the making of the Sydney Harbour Cocktail Cabinet and its details, in all their glory, is via a 13 minute video: https://youtu.be/kfD6naGxGzc

Michael Gill and his partner of 52 years, Chris Payne, are designer/craftspeople, artists, radio presenters, snake rescuers, educators, owners of a wildlife refuge and worshipers of The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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CONTACT: Michael Gill.

phone: (02) 48461066 (10am-5pm).

email: [email protected]

website: https://www.sydneyharbourbridge.biz

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