PRESS RELEASE: Is it Artwork You Rush to Save When the Flames Rage All Around You? Their studio/workshop held all their finest tools, materials and a huge treasure – their greatest masterpiece.

The infamous Black Summer bushfires claimed lives, homes, wildlife, and traumatised many of us. Fire can take your life’s work.

Michael Gill and his partner of 52 years Chris Payne live and work in the bush near Braidwood on their 57 hectare Wildlife Refuge. They are designer/craftspeople, artists, radio presenters, educators, Landcarers, snake rescuers and worshipers of The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

That was Michael’s huge masterwork, 36 years in the making – The Sydney Harbour Cocktail Cabinet, a vibrant symphony of Art Deco colour and design, a huge, functional Work of Art, made to work for its living – painstakingly hand-crafted from rare and precious woods… all horribly flammable.

Each summer, during the devastating droughts that preceded the conflagrations of 2019/20, Chris and Michael wrapped their enormous Bridge, firstly in cotton sheets, then cling-wrap (like a giant condom) to prevent smoke damage and finally in tarpaulins.
Of the 7 fire-hoses they’d installed, one was actually inside the workshop, so water damage had to be avoided. Flames eventually burned to within metres of their gate, but spared their beautiful property.

If we take a peek at what’s hiding beneath those wraps, the gorgeous, finished Cabinet is revealed.

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.

The allegorical female figure is the Mermaid, “Cascadia”, The Spirit of Sydney Harbour.

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

CONTACT: Michael Gill

website: https://www.sydneyharbourbridge.biz

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

email: [email protected]

Australian Wood Review: https://www.woodreview.com.au/profiles/michael-gill-making-the-sydney-harbour-bridge

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