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Glen Davis Retort No. 1 is a place where industrial architecture of the 1940s melts into the natural beauty of the Capertee Valley. The abandoned mining town of Glen Davis, located 200 kilometers from Sydney, is as dramatic as the magnificent valley the township rests in.

I first visited the mining town in the 1980s, just 35 years after the town had ceased production of Shale Oil and people had left it desolate in 1952. Upon entering the main street, I was confronted with twisted grey timbers competing with rusted iron pipes and concrete girders. It is just one of those places that is a photographer’s paradise at any time of the day or night.

This painting draws inspiration from a photo I’d taken from the window of the Powerhouse while looking towards the Fan house building with the distillation plant (Retort No. 1) in the background. In this artwork I like how the afternoon light echoes through the Capertee Valley bringing a soft pink glow to the trees and long wheat grass surrounding the buildings.

Geographically the Capertee Valley is recorded in the top 3 widest Canyons of the world, but it seems to lose the “grand “accolade because it is not as deep as the Grand Canyon in North America. What it misses out in depth it excels in for the colour of light and shade in the sandstone escarpments and for the ancient spirit of Capertee River. And now, the harsh smells from the distillation of shale oil have been replaced by the fragrant smoke of campfires, with billies boiling tea, in the Glen Davis campsite.