I've spoken before about the importance of documenting our historical buildings, especially since the wooden structures decay so quickly. Machinery kind of takes a back seat in terms of visual appeal but these were the objects miners dealt with on a daily basis. Without these machines, hard rock mining would not of been worth the effort for many of the gold miners. And though metal takes longer to wear down in the elements, these machines are changing yearly as well. "Atlas Gauges", for instance, has since lost the needle on the glass-less gauge. The title tin can of "Painters Thinner" has also since gone missing. Be it weather or vandals, bit by bit the mining equipment of the gold rush era is fading just as surely as the buildings around them.
Below are the three paintings, though I don't have a photo of "Lever Face" finished - I had to get it framed in time for a show that it is currently in and failed to remember to photograph it for my blog first. Only the lower right hand rusted area isn't finished in the pic here.
Click to see each image larger.
"Atlas Gauges" 26"x16"
"Lever Face" 18" x 24"
"Painters Thinner" 24" x 18"
Oil paint on illustration board
May/June 2010
Edit to add: Updated the image for "Lever Face" so it now shows the final painting, all done. :)
