Customs House, 1940s

This watercolor carries the viewer to the Brisbane foreshore in the 1940s, where Customs House stands at Circular Quay beneath the great arc of the Story Bridge. A bold cyan and grey palette gives the scene its unusual energy, cool tones washing over the river and sky while the building's copper dome glows in a warmer teal against them. The brushwork lingers on the colonnaded facade and the dome's fine detailing, while a tram rattles past below, sharing the road with a handful of vintage cars. It is a quiet study in contrast, a grand civic landmark rendered in a palette more suited to the sea than to sandstone, holding history and imagination in the same frame.