"The Sando Painting" (Original painting)

"The Sando" (Original painting)

One original painting only available. This is the one-off original painting on which all the subsequent Sando prints are based. There will never be another one of these.

Welcome to my "Pub Painting Project" - paintings of iconic band pubs in Australia. Having spent innumerable nights haunting the legendary band pubs of Sydney - the likes of the Hopetoun, the Landsdowne, the Sandringham, the Annandale etc - carving indelible memories and in many ways shaping me as a person, it struck me to do some paintings which touched on those days and memories.

Many of us hold these places very dearly and they’re etched in our hearts as the places of great moments, great experiences, great loves, great days of our lives. The Sandringham (aka "The Sando") was THE Newtown band pub, an absolutely iconic venue with a rough' n' ready ambience and clientele who were anchored to the central square bar for a generation of nights, with legendary bands getting their start there and playing there regularly.

Almost every night there were incredible bands on the bill, with many hot sweaty nights etched in my brain of loud and superb performances. The band PEG stands out as a huge notable "Sando band", their powerful, angular take on guitar music regularly having the whole place absolutely heaving. 

Disneyfist were a band very close to my heart, my brother being the drummer, and the Sando was their home base. Led by the enigmatic Gynia Favot, they were a much-loved 90s-era band whom anyone who witnessed could certainly attest were on the cusp of huge things. Alas, the path diverged, but they remain an iconic memory.

Iconic also were the Shout Brothers, aka "The Shouties". Mostly populated by the stalwart Hayes brothers, they anchored the Sunday night slot for what seemed like a century, their incredible playing and singing ranging across a wide field, from cover favourites to shining guitar-pop originals. 

I loved all of these bands and this pub in particular and I’ve painted these paintings with the idea that we don’t specifically remember the physical structure as it is or was exactly, more that there is an echo in our minds about what those places looked and felt like. I feel these paintings are almost slightly dreamscape in their representation, slightly ephemeral, but with enough concrete details which anchor the sense of place.

So … please enjoy this new series - the actual original paintings on canvas are here for sale. These are complete one-offs, crafted and created by hand with love. There are also limited prints of these available. Please see elsewhere on this page. With the sturdy oak frame, these paintings can be hung on a wall or be freestanding on a bench or table etc. All of these come with wire hanging set-up on the back.

*NB. This is a hand-painted/hand-made work. Marks, fades, scuffs, irregularities are all part of the process. I am not striving for "perfection" - I hope you get my drift, with the beauty in the texture/tactile sense....
25cm x 25cm - canvas size

28cm x 28cm - including frame
5.5cm deep
Acrylic on triple-primed canvas in hand-finished oak frame.
Ready-to-hang with wire on back