PRESS RELEASE: Artists pay homage to Sydney’s Fabulous Art Deco Steel Arch for Almost a Century. It seems you really can fall in love with a bridge. For an artist, Beauty is everywhere.

When you hear the word “Muse”, do you ever think of rivets, girders and granite?

To four generations of discerning painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, musicians, architects, authors, poets and filmmakers, The Sydney Harbour Bridge is not just The Coathanger or The Meccano Set. It is a superb, living embodiment of the glorious Jazz Age, leaping across the world’s most beautiful Harbour.

How would you expect an accomplished Fine Art Furnituremaker to pay homage to the Jewel in Sydney’s Crown?

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. Years later, I was booked for speeding, driving my girlfriend over the Bridge in a Morris Minor – I’m very proud of that.”

“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 must have argued with a bandsaw.’”

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

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.

Decades later, now a celebrated master craftsman and educator, Michael explains: “Something drove me to create a major work that brought all my skills and passions together. Something Australian. Something iconic. Something riveting. I think the Devil made me do it. Thanks, Lucifer. 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.

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.

###

We have many good quality images of the piece and will create an article of any length for you – please indicate the word-count you would prefer and the approach you’d like us to take.

CONTACT: Michael Gill.

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

email: [email protected]

website: https://www.sydneyharbourbridge.biz