Mudgee Steam Monorail
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
It now seems hard to believe, but when council first proposed purchasing the Sydney Monorail, opinion within the community was sharply divided. Unaware of the future demands on both parking and transport within the Mudgee CBD, many were of the opinion that town’s heritage status might be negatively impacted by such a modern facility. But when a proposal from steam enthusiasts at the miniature railway became known, opposition to the project quickly vanished.
“It’s hard to say whether it is the world’s only steam monorail, but I’m pretty confident that it is the only one that operates with locally sourced coal.” Says Mark Bentley, one of the brains behind the monorail’s conversion.
Immensely popular with tourists and locals alike, The Mid Western Regional Steam Monorail is currently on loan to Gulgong.
A Brief History of Mudgee
Mudgee arts Precinct 2022
Night sky with biscuit constellations
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
The Mudgee Telescope group meet on the first night of the waxing crescent for stargazing, tea and a good natter. It was on one such occasion that they noticed several collections of stars arranged in the familiar shapes of the Arnott’s Family Assortment.
“One day, about four and a half million years ago, our ancestors dropped out of the trees and started searching for something other than fruit to eat. That night, they looked up into the sky and asked themselves “What is the point of all this walking around?”. Ever since then, we’ve been looking to the stars for meaning.” explains club president Shirley Kingston.
“Some look for God, some look warnings, others look for signs of intelligent life. We were lucky enough to find biscuits.” She explains.
“It’s basic science when you think about it – you’re most likely to find the thing you’re looking for. I suppose it must have been a similar realisation that made Einstein propose the theory of relativity.”
They work hard to make the Chiko Roll
Acrylic on canavs, 100 x 75 cm
The first Chiko Roll was discovered in Bendigo in late 1858 and by 1860, ‘Chiko Fever’ had spread throughout every state in Australia. In New South Wales, bountiful underground seams were discovered in Bathurst, Hill End and Gulgong, whilst small alluvial deposits were pulled from the Turon river near Sofala.
During the rush, many towns developed industries to support both the mining and processing of Chikos. In 1862, a Chiko smelting and processing plant was established in Bathurst, allowing the massive rolls from Hill End’s Golden Brown Gully to be converted into the more familiar hand held treats that Australians enjoy today.
Of the 963 Chiko smelters that once kept surfers and motor bike enthusiasts fed, the Bathurst plant is the only one still in operation.
Not for the first time, Rocking Horse is expelled from Mudgee Library
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Many libraries around the world refuse to admit horses. In Mudgee, horses are allowed to use the Library provided that they can respect the need for quiet. Some horses never learn.
In an act of civil disobedience, Cranky Sam Poo punches his horse
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Although now regarded as Australia’s favourite Chinese Bushranger, early in his career, Cranky Sam Poo was often forced to confront racism and injustice. When the Governor John Young announced an annual licensing fee for bushrangers in 1861, the young Sam Poo staged a daring protest.
For six straight hours, Poo stood in Roberston Park and repeatedly punched his horse Rowdy in the face, sending a clear message to the authorities in Sydney. In a win for the little man, a collection of local businessmen and horse trainers agreed to not only pay Sam Poo’s licence but also to loan him a horse, whilst his trusty Rowdy recovered.
Kafkaroo enjoying the annual Putta Bucca carp muster
Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 100 cm
In the summer of 1915, fearing potential literary success, the Czech author Franz Kafka fled Prague for the wilds of Mudgee. Known to be a keen angler, he is often seen enjoying the annual Carp Muster at Putta Bucca Wetlands.
Louisa Lawson’s wasted afternoon
Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 100cm
After a hard day inventing female suffrage and running the Eurunderee Post Office, Louisa Lawson arrives at St Matthew’s School only to find out that her son has been expelled for refusing to shave his moustache.
To this day, the school maintains a very strict uniform policy.
Mudgee Town Hall as a Big Mac
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Struggling for financial support in the late 1990’s, The Mudgee Food and Wine Festival was able to secure a lucrative sponsorship from McDonalds Family Restaurants. The partnership saw Mudgee Town Hall transformed into an enormous Big Mac for the entire month of September in 1998, showing tourists just how much the region has to offer.
Cranky Sam Poo takes advantage of the great butterfly plague of 1864 in order to rob the Bank of Gulgong
Mudgee is a town where ‘to have a go, is to get a go’.
In 1864, when Sam Poo set out to become a bushranger, few towns were willing to give him a start. Bushranging was still seen as a job for Irish Catholics. But Poo, or Cranky Sam as his friends knew him, was determined to change all that.
After being granted the lucrative Mudgee-Gulgong Road franchise, Cranky Sam Poo set out to prove to all Australians that a Chinese man could threaten women, rob travellers and spend lonely nights in the bush with a horse as good as any Anglo-Celt.
After killing Senior Constable John Ward in 1865, many believed that Cranky Sam Poo had little left to achieve in bushranging. But after an extended break in the Mudgee Prison Hospital, Poo was hanged at Bathurst Gaol.
Man walking dog in Disappointment Park during a meteor shower
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
You never know what you might encounter on a visit to Disappointment Park.
Peking Ducks migrating over Putta Bucca
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
As most bird lovers know, April is the perfect month to visit the Putta Bucca Wetlands in order to witness the Peking Duck on its southern migration.
Playing Galaga at Fran’s Burger Bar
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Many locals have fond memories of Fran’s Burger Bar. Operating on the space now occupied by Disappointment Park, Fran’s was a multi faceted establishment offering mezzanine dining and a ground level video arcade.
“I spent most of 1993 at Fran’s.” Colin Jam recalls “Initially it was the games that got me there, but it was the food that kept me coming back.”
Sydney – Gulgong Opera House exchange program
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
If there is one thing all Australians love, it is opera and the best place to do opera is in an Opera House.
2016 marked 50 years since the sacking of Danish architect Joern Utzon and the successful tendering for the remaining construction of the Sydney Opera House by Gulgong Based builder, Dave Tanker Carports and Garages. To celebrate the occasion, a six-month Opera House Exchange was organised, allowing Australia’s oldest and most famous opera houses to swap places.
Initially concerned about the notoriously bad acoustics within the “Seven Sails form Sydney Harbour”, members of the Gulgong Dramatic Society soon realised that their fears were misplaced.
“The thing is, no one ever actually goes inside, I mean the whole idea of the Sydney Opera House is just to take a selfie on the steps or eat a schnitzel in the Prince of Wales beer garden while you glimpse a bit of it over the fence.”
Surprisingly, the temporary relocation of Utzon’s Opera House proved remarkably easy as the Danish architect had the foresight to specify that it be constructed entirely out of Lego.
Mudgee Microscope Club hosts Amoeba Wrestling
Acrylic on composition board, 90 cm diameter
In 1896, the New South Wales government passed legislation effectively banning cockfighting throughout the state. In a sport-mad town like Mudgee, this loss of freedom was deeply felt.
The Mudgee Microscope Club held its first held Amoeba Wrestling meet on the 5th of October 1896, only two weeks after the cockfighting ban had come into place. Within three years, an estimated one million pounds had passed through book-makers hands and allegations of match fixing were beginning to surface. Amoebas the size of small cockroaches were being bred in back yard laboratories . Perhaps of even greater concern, were reports of mass amoeba culling, with weak, deformed and undersized creatures heartlessly discarded into bins to feast on each other or starve to death.
At the end of 1901, the newly created Australian parliament, already in considerable debt as a result of lavish Federation Celebrations, took control of all amoeba wrestling. In 1905, now beset by red tape and soaring administrative costs, Amoeba Wrestling Australia was officially disbanded.
The Township formerly known as Cudgegong
Acrylic on composition board, 90 cm diameter
In 1974 the town of Cudgegong was flooded in order to create Windamere Dam. The vast majority of residents left.
Windamere Dam is notable as the only Dam in Australia to be constantly at 40% capacity regardless of ongoing weather conditions.
Windamere Dam provides drinking water, hydro-electricity and recreational facilities including fishing and motorboating. With a little pre-planning, it is possible to ski all day and then drive home in the Tesla to drink the very same water that you have been splashing about in.
Mudgee as viewed from an Alien Spaceship
Acrylic on composition board, 90 cm diameter
Mudgee is remarkably small when viewed from outer space.
Given this fact, it is perhaps even more surprising that the town is regularly visited by Extra Terrestrials.
Church Street 11.55am (after John Brack)
Acrylic on canvas 152 x 122 cm
Leisure is the new work and nobody works harder than a Mudgee resident trying to get their hands on a bit of sushi.
At exactly 12.00 noon, six days a week, the sushi train rolls into Church Street. Competition for tickets is orderly and patient and intense. Both queue jumping and scalping are heavily scrutinised and locals are regularly warned about the dangers of buy sushi from unlicensed vendors.
Despite these measures, the practice of sushi laundering continues to trouble police, particularly on race days.
You’ll be amazed byat what you can buy at the Mudgee Post Office
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
For lovers of seafood, Thursdays means a trip to the Mudgee Post Office. Whilst grabbing a couple of flat head or a kilo of marinara mix, be sure to check out the range of sports biographies and ‘as seen on television’ electrical goods.
The annual Ken Sutcliffe Day Parade
Acylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Since its inception in 1985, the annual Ken Sutcliffe day parade has become one of the most important social events on the Mudgee Calendar.
As part of the parade’s commitment to community, a ballot is held each year to decide who should drive the truck. As luck would have it, in 2006, Ken Sutcliffe himself was selected.
“I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a fantastic career, full of so many wonderful highlights.” Ken explains “But driving my own head down church street on the back of a truck is something I will always remember.”
The Putta Bucca Swamp Monster is a master of disguise
Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 100 cm
Formerly a quarry, the town’s sewage works and now a wildlife sanctuary, it is hard to imagine a part of Mudgee that has given residents more joy and relief than the Putta Bucca Wetlands. Its fecund waters are home to the famed Putta Bucca Swamp monster, a shape shifting creature of exceptional guile and intelligence.
On summer evenings, naturalists love nothing more than watching this majestic creature devour families of swans.
Greetings from Mudgee
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
In 2021, a year in which almost everyone in the entire world stayed at home, Mudgee along with Alpha Centuri, and the Great Pyramids of Giza, was named in the top 3 places to visit in the known universe. In celebration of this fact, a number of Mudgee artists and businesses collaborated to create this commemorative snow dome.
Shopping trolleys Engaging in antisocial behaviours on the corner of Market and Lewis Street.
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Like many towns, Mudgee has long had a problem with errant shopping trolleys. For years it was assumed that late night revellers leaving hotels were to blame. But when public health orders demanded the closure of all venues, trolleys continued to appear in strange locations about the town each morning.
“We took the dramatic step of installing closed circuit cameras in a number of key locations.” Detective Inspector Mahoney explains. “What we uncovered was truly shocking.”
“Shopping trolleys are essential workers, and whilst most of them did the right thing and remained within the bounds of their designated car park, a few bad apples spoiled it for everyone else. On a nightly basis, in clear defiance of public health orders, throughout the entire lockdown period, shopping trolleys met and engaged in lewd and anti-social behaviour.”
“I can’t tell you how many times I have watched the footage, but each time I manage to find some new depth of depravity”
Despite having an official no-monkeys policy, Council has been criticised for encouraging primates to take up residence within Lawson Park
Acrylic on canvas, 182 x 122 cm
Even in their South American homeland, cane toads are a pain in the neck. Slimy, ugly and poisonous, few would be unhappy if they were to become extinct. But monkeys are a different proposition all together. Monkeys are not only clever, but they are also lovably cheeky.
Since their initial release into Lawson Park in 1845, Mudgee residents have been sharply divided over the monkey question.
“Some people reckon monkeys are a problem because they compete against native animals for resources. The way I see it, native animals have had it too easy for too long, they would probably benefit from a little healthy competition.” argues local eugenics proponent Charles Streat.
“I mean, what sort of a country allows an animal like the koala to exist? You give a koala a tree and they just spend all day sleeping in it. You give that same tree to a monkey, and then you’re really going to see some action.”
Mudgee Self- Drive Zeppelin Tours
Acrylic on canvas, 182 x 122 cm
Despite lingering concerns about their safety, Zeppelins hold a special place in the public imagination. Local handyman Steve Travolta knows that the complexities of physics, chemical reactions and government legislation are no match for someone with a can-do attitude.
“There is nothing like the wind through your hair at 40000 feet.” says Steve, “And It’s even better knowing that your survival doesn’t depend on the deliberations of some ivory tower science boffin. It’s just you and your instincts. No training, no supervision - you’re totally in control of your own destiny.”
Steve is a breath of fresh air, in an overly cautious world.
“When you think about it, there were more people killed in car accidents last year than there were Zeppelin crashes. The government is always banging on about workplace safety and not sticking knives in toasters, but I mean what are they going to do, make you wear a seat belt, try to stop you drinking, ban watching YouTube while you’re driving?”
“The way I see it, when your time’s up, there’s nothing you can do about it. You could go to bed tonight and wake up dead tomorrow! Better to die doing something you love, like hurtling towards the ground from a great height engulfed in flames.”
St Mary’s Church with Vacanti Mouse
Acrylic on canvas, 75 x100 cm
Mudgee is a great place to do science and when the weather gets drizzly, there is nothing locals love more than pulling out the microscope and mucking about with animal genetics. In 1996 , when Charles and Joseph Vacanti at the University of Massachusetts General Hospital were able to successfully engineer a mouse with a human ear on its back, local doctor Alex Ghanem saw it as an opportunity to do something for the Mudgee community.
“I thought that the Vacanti mouse was great, but straight away I knew that a really big mouse with a human ear on its back would be even better.” Dr Ghanem recalls.
“Of course it wasn’t long before I realised that keeping such a large intelligent rodent indoors would be difficult.”
Kangaroo being abducted by Aliens in Disappointment Park
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Conveniently located next to Coles Express, Disappointment Park has been linked to more UFO sightings than any other location within the township of Mudgee.
When representatives of Australia’s largest brewery and a group of former Rugby League players visited the site in 2004, they constructed a large number of carports. Not entirely dissimilar to Wiltshire’s Stonehenge. It is believed that the arrangement of these open-air sheds must be communicating a message to extra-terrestrial beings.
Neither Mid-Western Regional Council, Toohey’s, NASA or the NRL, have ever officially commented upon the Disappointment Park UFO sightings. The meaning contained within the arrangement of the carports remains a mystery known only to visitors from another galaxy and quite possibly a few Rugby League players.
Child lost in Club Mudgee Playground
Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 100 cm
Upon entering Club Mudgee, watches, phones and compasses have been known to behave in a manner inconsistent with normal experience and the laws of physics. On a number of occasions, patrons have emerged from the club’s depths after an extended period unable to recall or explain their experience.
Tugger Watkins notes:
“I went in to put a bet on and the next thing I knew, there were members of the police force and State Emergency Services asking me questions like “Who’s the Prime Minister? – I had no idea. I still don’t”
Tugger is one of the lucky ones. Since 1994, a total of seventeen people have been lost to the club, half empty schooner glasses and incomplete keno tickets, the only evidence that they were ever there.
On Wednesday nights, the club has a carvery special with beef, lamb, pork and chicken options available. Kids eat for free.
The Good Samaritan Convent of Kandos hold a monster truck derby
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 75 cm
Whilst everyone loves the Kandos Street Machine Festival and Hot Rod Show, very few know that it was originally a fund raiser for the Good Samaritan Convent
When Sister Betrille arrived at Kandos in 1967 she was only 21 years old, weighed less than ninety pounds and was full of unconventional ideas. Whilst popular with the other nuns and the children of the town, Sister Betrille was a constant source of concern for the patient but conservative Reverend Mother Placido.
In this episode, local libertine and casino owner Carlos Remeres is coaxed into sponsoring a monster truck derby to fund much needed repairs for the church roof.
Golden Brown Gully - after Russell Drysdale
Acrylic on canvas, 152 x 122 cm
The veins so full once so full, have now run dry. The time of the Chicko miner is a time gone by.